What I Did For Love
by J Mac2
Summary: Two new female staffers forever alter the lives of Sam and Josh. Please read and review... I wanna know what you think!
1. Interviews

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters (except Olivia and Alex). They all belong to the brilliant Aaron Sorkin and NBC.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please bare with me, this is my first West Wing fanfic. This comes out of my insane mind so pardon some of the weirdness that ensues. This doesn't happen during a specific time during the show's timeline, it is before Sam leaves. For my story's purposes, Mandy quit (I don't know what happened to her in the show) and I made up a staff position (please excuse its lameness).

* * *

"What I Did For Love"

Chapter 1- Interviews

Leo McGarry, President Jed Bartlet's Chief of Staff, watched as the Senior Staff filed into his office. It was 7:30 on a Monday morning and none of them looked very agreeable. CJ Cregg, the Press Secretary, came in first. There was a large stain down her front where apparently coffee had been spilled. A smile crept onto Leo's face. "Not a word, Leopold." CJ growled, warningly.

"Are you planning on looking like that at your briefing?"

CJ sighed. "Carol's going to get me clothes." She plopped into a chair in front of Leo's desk as Toby Ziegler, the Communications Director, walked in.

"Can we get this meeting started?! I have work to do!" Toby bellowed.

"And a good morning to you too, Toby." Leo smiled. Toby sat down in the chair next to CJ. A few seconds later, Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and Sam Seaborn, the Deputy Communications Director, came into Leo's office together, arguing about something.

"I'm telling you, that would never work!" Sam said.

"Good morning," Leo grinned.

"How can you be smiling like that?" Josh groaned. "It's a Monday morning."

"What can I say, Josh? I love my job." Josh and Sam stood behind CJ and Toby and the meeting was ready to begin. "First thing on our agenda on this beautiful Monday morning," CJ, Toby, Sam, and Josh all moaned, "is new staff appointments. As you all know, Mandy quit, and since then the President and I have been looking at candidates to fill her spot as Media Director. The President has been quite insistent on a woman named Alexandra Cameron."

"No, don't hire her." Toby mumbled. "I don't like her."

"You know her?"

"Yeah. Kinda. She... she was manager on Walt Stedman's campaign for Congress. Her campaign blew my guy out of the water."

"So that would explain why you don't like her." Sam commented. Toby grunted.

"Josh, I've scheduled an interview with her at one. I want you to do it. Here's her file." Leo handed Josh a folder containing Alexandra's professional information. Josh began to glance through it as Leo continued. "Our other new staff appointment is for Senior Congressional Liaison. We need someone to keep Ed and Larry in check. We're going to interview Olivia Brooke about the position."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Josh looked up from the file he was reading. "You mean, Olivia Brooke as in your niece Olivia Brooke?" Leo nodded.

"That's not a good idea." CJ exclaimed. "The press is going to think that this is nepotism. Our credibility will go down, everyone's abilities will be questioned—"

"CJ, calm down." Leo said. "Olivia is more than qualified for the job. I would never even think about hiring anyone that wasn't. I even tried to convince the President not to appoint her because of my relation to her, but again he insisted. She's coming in at noon. Josh..." Leo held out Olivia's folder to Josh.

"Why do I have to do both of the interviews?! Make Sam do one!" Josh whined.

"Hey! I have important work to do!" Sam asserted.

"So do I!" Josh cried.

"Yes you do," Leo said as he shoved the folder into Josh's hands. "You have to interview these people and decide whether or not we should hire them. So Josh, after the interviews come and give the President and I your recommendations, all right?" Josh nodded grumpily and began to browse through the folders as the Senior Staff meeting continued.

* * *

Olivia Brooke paced around the Roosevelt Room in a very nervous manner. She had been in the West Wing before, but this was for a job interview, and she really wanted this job. The one thing that she had been preparing to do her whole life was work at the White House and this might be her only chance. It was almost noon, which meant that Josh Lyman would be striding in at any moment to start the interview. Her Uncle Leo told her that if he started treating her unfairly for any reason, she should just compliment him as much as possible. According to Leo, Josh had a rather big ego.

Olivia pulled her compact mirror out of her purse to check on her appearance one last time. Her brown hair, which normally cascaded around her shoulders, was pulled back into a neat bun. She smoothed the fly-aways that were starting to pop out of the bun. Next she checked her makeup. The little makeup that she wore made her green eyes and tan skin stand out. After she put her compact away, Olivia smoothed the wrinkles in her emerald dress suit, frantically. All she wanted to do was look distinguished.

"You all right?" came a man's voice from behind her. Olivia turned to see Josh Lyman staring at her, looking slightly amused. Her throat suddenly went dry so she just nodded. Josh smiled. "I'm Josh Lyman." He held out a hand and Olivia shook it.

"Olivia Brooke," Olivia managed to say.

"It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Mr. Lyman."

"Call me Josh." He said, motioning for her to sit down. She did, and then Josh sat in a seat across from her. "Well, I read all of your stuff here and you seem quite qualified. You scored almost as high as I did on the SAT's so... well done. Um... I'm just going to have to ask you a few questions and then... we'll see what happens." Olivia nodded.

The interview was going quite well. After the first question, Olivia's nerves relaxed and she answered them with ease. They were answered exactly the way that Josh wanted them answered. Olivia thought Josh seemed quite nice, which contrasted what she had heard about him. He could be putting on a face for the interview though, she thought. Josh thought, though he hated to admit it, that this girl was brilliant. For her young age, she knew a lot about politics.

Josh was about to finish up the interview when there was a knock on the door behind him. He turned to see Sam motioning for him to come out. "Excuse me, "he said to Olivia and went to greet Sam. "What's up?"

Sam shrugged. "Nothing. I was just bored." He looked into the Roosevelt Room. "Who's that?"

"Olivia Brooke, Leo's niece."

"She's hot."

Josh laughed. "Don't tell me you're thinking about dating another member of Leo's family?"

"First of all, nothing really happened with Mallory and I. Second of all, no I wasn't thinking about dating her. I was just commenting on the fact that she was hot."

"Okay... She _is_ hot." Josh said, still laughing. "I gotta go in there and finish the interview now." Josh went back into the Roosevelt Room and Sam walked away. "Sorry about that. He was just... talking about the vote on the new federal budget." Josh lied. "Well Olivia, thanks for coming. Now all you have to do is go through the six weeks of boot camp and you might qualify for a government position."

Olivia's eyes practically popped out of her head. "I have to go through six weeks of boot camp?"

Josh paused for a moment, dumbstruck. "No... I was being sarcastic."

"Oh... right... sorry."

"No problem. Um... my assistant will bring you out." Josh went to one of the doors, opened it, and yelled into the hallway, "DONNA!!!"

* * *

Josh's next interview did not go as well. Alexandra Cameron, who had told Josh to call her Alex, was a rather short woman. She had dark blonde, layered hair that flipped above her shoulders, and she had piercing blue-gray eyes. The black pantsuit she wore complimented her figure nicely, and Josh couldn't help but be taken by her.

Knowing that Alex was a well-qualified democrat, Josh expected similar answers to those he got from Olivia. Much to his dismay, he found that not only did she outsmart him several times during the interview, but she also seemed to enjoy doing it. Before long, the interview had turned into a debate between Josh and Alex about various Bartlet policies. The two did not have completely different views, in fact many of their opinions were the same, it just seemed as if each wanted their say in the matter and enough time to use more big words than the other.

The interview ended with a stiff handshake. Josh then had to decide if he would recommend the two women for hiring. When he reached the Oval Office, Charlie ushered him in. Leo was going over something with the President, but when Josh walked in they both looked up. "Leo tells me that you've been doing interviews, Josh," the President said. "How were Alex and Olivia?"

"I think that they could both add something unique to this team." Josh answered.

"So we should hire them?" Leo asked.

Josh nodded.

* * *

Later that day, as Sam worked on an address that the President had to make to a Farmers' Guild, Josh came into his office. Josh sat down and Sam looked up. "Hey." Sam smiled. "What's up?"

Josh shrugged. "I hired them."

"Both of them?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"I just hope I made the right choice."

"You did. They're both very qualified."

"Did you read both of their files?" Josh asked.

"Well not so much both of their files as just Olivia's file."

Josh laughed. "You have got it so incredibly bad."

"I do not have it bad."

"You've never even met her and you go out and learn everything about her!"

"I thought that it would be nice to learn about a possible new staff member who happens to be our boss's niece," Sam exclaimed. "She's also very hot."

"Okay," Josh said, still laughing, as he stood up and walked to the door.

Sam stopped Josh at the door. "How was the other one? Alexis or whatever her name was."

"Alex," he corrected Sam. "She was... a handful to say the least. Actually, she was pretty annoying. She likes to show off a lot."

"Kind of like you?"

"I do not show off!"

"Okay," Sam chuckled as he turned back to his work. Josh, unable to formulate a come back, turned and left the office.


	2. First Days are the Toughest

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: I know Sam never had a couch in his office but I forgot that while I was writing this and I'm too lazy to fix it. I also made up a country for the purposes of this story.

* * *

Chapter 2- First Days are the Toughest

Donna Moss, Josh's assistant, had just finished giving Alexandra Cameron and Olivia Brooke a tour of the White House. They both seemed very nice, and she liked them a lot. She hoped that no one would give them a hard time, since it was their first day. Although, despite what she wanted, she knew that the senior staff would be playing as many practical jokes as they possibly could. After showing them to their offices, which Olivia and Alex were now personalizing, Donna headed to Josh's office.

"Josh!" Donna called, walking in to his office. Josh was on the phone with a Senator, and Donna did not continue until he put down the phone. "I showed them to their offices."

"Who?"

"Alex and Olivia."

"You were supposed to bring them back here so that I could take them to the Senior Staff meeting. Go get them."

"No! You go and do something for once."

Josh sighed. "Fine," he stood up and walked past Donna. "Jeez, that was harsh."

"Sorry."

Josh sauntered to the office that Mandy had formerly occupied. Inside, he found Alex pulling an oddly shaped mound of bright purple clay out of a box. She looked up as Josh entered. "It's a paperweight," she laughed, indicating the clay. "My nephew made it for me."

"That's... nice," Josh lied, inspecting it from a distance. "Come on, we gotta go."

"Where?"

"Senior Staff meeting."

"Sorry, I'd like to come, but I'm busy."

Josh did a double take. "You're _BUSY_?! You really think that you can say you're busy when you work at the White House?! You are not working for some stupid Congressman from some district in the middle of nowhere anymore! You work for the President of the United States, you—"

Alex walked right up to Josh. "I know. I was kidding. You didn't have to get all riled up, Skippy." She patted Josh's cheek twice and walked out into the hall.

"Skippy?" Josh followed her.

"Yeah. It's a nickname. I enjoy it. I think that that's what I am going to call you from now on."

"I'm just going to ignore you now." Alex shrugged and trailed Josh as he went to Olivia's office. Olivia was putting photos on her desk. "Olivia, come on. We've got a Senior Staff meeting."

"Already?" Olivia asked. "It's my first day."

"I know. Come on." Josh began to walk to the Oval Office. "Today is actually going to be a rather slow day, so you won't have to worry about doing a lot of work. It will probably be just a lot of introductions and—,"Josh looked behind him and saw that only Alex was following. He looked down the hall and saw Olivia walking in the complete opposite direction. "OLIVIA!," he yelled.

Olivia stopped, turned, and then realizing her mistake, ran over to Josh and Alex. "Sorry about that. I started daydreaming and—" Josh and Alex were both smiling. Olivia laughed nervously, and they continued toward the Oval Office.

Josh led them into an office just outside of the Oval. CJ, Toby, and Sam stood inside talking, and Charlie sat at his desk on his computer. "Hey everyone. This is Alex Cameron, our new Media Director. And this is Olivia Brooke, our new Senior Congressional Liaison." Josh indicated them as he spoke. "This is... everybody."

Charlie stood up and offered his hand to each of the new women. "I'm Charlie Young. I'm the President's personal aide." He then turned to Josh. "He'll be ready in a minute." Josh nodded.

"I'm CJ Cregg, the Press Secretary." CJ said, shaking each of their hands. "Welcome aboard."

Sam walked up to Olivia. As he stood face to face with her, he seemed to lose his senses and began to babble incoherently. Josh laughed and stepped in. "That's Sam Seaborn. He's the Deputy Communications Director."

"Yeah. That's right." Sam muttered.

Then as she saw Toby for the first time, Alex stated, "Hey, I know you. You're Toby Ziegler. You ran a great campaign against Walt."

"Apparently not great enough to beat yours though." Toby mumbled.

"That's not a surprise."

The door to the Oval Office opened and Leo stepped out. "We're ready." Leo went back in and the Senior Staff followed.

"Mr. President, Leo," Josh said when they were all inside. "I'd like you to meet our new Media Director—"

"Alex Cameron." Jed stood up, walked over to Alex, and shook her hand, smiling. "How have you been?"

"Wonderful, sir. How about you?"

"Can't complain. You know, I thought that you were going to be on Broadway."

Alex shrugged. "Things change."

"Excuse me but... do you two know each other?" CJ asked.

"Alex and Liz were best friends in high school." The President responded. "She beat out Liz to be valedictorian. My brilliant daughter was forced to be salutatorian."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm sorry about that Mr. President?"

"You will never be able to apologize enough."

"Pardon me," Leo stated, "but could we finish up the introductions?"

"Yeah," Josh said. "Um... this is Olivia Brooke, our new Senior Congressional Liaison. That's the President of the United States and that's Leo McGarry." He indicated each person.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. President." Olivia exclaimed before turning to Leo. "Hi Uncle Leo!" She ran into his arms.

"Welcome to the team, kiddo." Leo pulled out of her embrace. "Let's get to work."

* * *

After the Senior Staff meeting, Alex walked back to her office to find its interior covered in silly string and paper streamers hanging from the ceiling. A moment of complete and utter shock followed, but that slowly dissolved into a laugh. Alex strolled into her office and began her work as if nothing had happened.

A little while later, Josh marched into Alex's office with a devious smile on his face. "What happened?" he asked with mock concern in his voice.

"Gee, this was such a great joke. It really got me," Alex sarcastically replied. "How did you guys do it anyway? We were all in the Staff meeting."

"We have assistants, you know."

"Ah, I see." Alex stood up and walked to Josh, carrying a folder. "I have a few questions to ask you about some of these policies. Shall we take this to your office? Seeing as mine is unusable."

"Sure," Josh said, obviously dejected. His plan hadn't worked the way it was supposed to. Alex was supposed to be freaking out about the state that her office was in. Instead, she was cool and calm and acting like nothing had happened.

When they reached his office, Josh stopped dead in the doorway. Alex, not anticipating this, ran right into his back. The chairs that resided in Josh's office were there, but his desk was missing. "Where the hell is my desk?!," he bellowed. Josh was about to call for Donna when he noticed Alex giggling up a storm. "What did you do to my desk?!"

"I have an assistant, too." Alex pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Josh. "Here's the treasure map. Good luck finding all the pieces, Skippy."

"I shouldn't have hired you."

"But aren't you glad you did?" With that, Alex walked back to her office, leaving Josh bewildered.

Josh turned to Donna's desk where Donna was cackling uncontrollably. "Did you help her with this?!"

"No!" Donna said, defensively, while trying to keep a serious face. It didn't work and a smile leapt onto her face. "So what if I did? You guys are always mean to the newbies, so I thought I'd help give one of them a leg up. Besides, you've got to admit that that plan was awesome."

"No it wasn't! And as punishment, you get to find my desk and put it back together!" Josh threw the piece of paper at Donna.

"Why do I have to do it? Why can't you do it?"

"Because I am a high-ranking, government official. And you are my assistant."

"You're also a mean person!"

Josh walked back to his office. "I try."

Donna stood up. "I'm on Alex's side now... just because you're making me do this."

"Whatever."

* * *

Olivia walked the halls of the West Wing aimlessly. She had left the Senior Staff meeting confident that she knew where she was going, but now that she was alone in the West Wing she realized that she was completely lost. Fear began to overtake her. She couldn't admit to anyone that she was lost because she was supposed to be smart. They would all think that she was stupid if she said she was lost.

As she began to panic, Olivia ran headfirst into Sam. "Sorry," she apologized.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"Nothing." Olivia turned to walk away.

"You're lost aren't you?"

She turned to face Sam. "What makes you think that?"

"Well... you have the looks about you of a lost person that is need of assistance. Good Samaritans can always tell these things... and I'm a Good Samaritan, so you're in luck."

Olivia studied Sam's face carefully. "I think that you know that I'm lost because you used to get lost yourself."

Sam smiled. "You got me. Would you like me to take you back to your office?"

"That would be great."

Sam started to walk toward Olivia's office and she followed, careful not to take her eyes off of him for fear that she would lose him. "So..." Sam stammered. "Are you enjoying the White House so far?"

"Yeah, it's nice. Exhilarating even."

"That feeling doesn't go away. Trust me."

"You mean, the long hours and loads of stress don't take a toll on you?"

"They do. Believe me, they do. But the feeling doesn't go away." Olivia laughed. "Here's your office," Sam said, pointing Olivia into her office. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too." They both stood in silence for a few seconds.

"There you are!" CJ cried, stomping down the hall in their direction.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I wasn't talking to you Samuel. I was talking to Olivia."

"Me?" Olivia gasped.

"Do you see any other Olivia's around?"

"I don't know. I'm new."

"Yes, I'm talking to you!" CJ laughed. "I thought it would be nice if we all went out for drinks... you know, to get to know the new guys. Alex already said yes. What do you say?"

"Sounds fun."

"Why didn't you ask me?" Sam inquired. "What the hell did I do to upset you, CJ?"

"Calm down, Sparky. I was going to ask you next."

"Well, I won't come because I'm busy."

"No you're not."

"You're right. I'll be there."

"Good." CJ walked away.

* * *

Sam sat in his office, deleting some files on his computer. Today had been a slow day. He worked on the speech that the President had to give to the Farmers' Guild and also on some comments that the President would give at a photo-op. Nothing exciting had happened in the news that day.

In fact, the most exciting thing that happened to Sam that day was just then as he looked up from his computer and saw Olivia standing in his doorway. "May I come in?"

Sam's throat went dry. "Sure," he stood and indicated the chair across from his desk. Olivia came in and sat down. Sam sat too. "How was your first day?"

Olivia sighed. "Boring. I thought that working at the White House would be more exciting."

"It usually is. Today was a slow day. Be thankful that a day like today happened to be your first day. There could have been a bombing at an embassy or something."

"Yeah, I guess," Olivia said unenthusiastically. She looked into Sam's eyes and he smiled at her. "CJ said we were going out for drinks. When?"

"Soon. Josh is coming to get me when everybody's ready."

As if on cue, Josh entered Sam's office, with his coat on and his backpack slung over his shoulder. "Ready to go?," he asked Sam. He then noticed Olivia. "Hey Olivia. How was your first day?"

"Monotonous." Josh laughed.

Alex then walked in to Sam's office, grinning. She received smiles from Olivia and Sam, but a loud, exasperated sigh from Josh. "Hi everyone!"

"Hi," said Sam. "How was _your_ first day?"

"Monotonous." Olivia and Sam laughed at this coincidence. Josh sighed again. "What?"

"I said the exact same thing," Olivia explained. "But Josh laughed when I said it."

"That's to be expected," Alex shrugged. "Josh hates me."

"I do not hate you!" Josh cried.

"Yes you do. Because I rival your academic knowledge."

"I do not... you do not..." Just as Josh was about to make his comeback, a Secret Service agent stepped in to the room.

"Excuse me," he said. "Please stay where you are. This is a crash."

"A real one or a drill?" Sam and Josh asked at once.

"Real." The agent replied.

"Why?" Sam and Josh asked at once, again. This time, their voices were filled with anxiety.

"I don't know. I'll let you know when I find out." The agent stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Well, you two wanted something exciting to happen. Here it is." Josh groaned.

"So we're not allowed to go anywhere?" Olivia inquired, starting to panic. Josh and Sam shook their heads.

"What would have caused this crash?" Alex questioned. She also was beginning to worry, but being with two men who had been through this so many times, she was determined not to show it.

"Could be anything," Sam elucidated. "Probably a threat against the White House or the President or Washington DC in general. As we speak, the President and First Family are probably being taken to underground bunkers."

"Yeah, but don't worry about it," Josh said, plopping onto Sam's couch. "It happens all the time. Most of the time, it's nothing."

"_Most_ of the time?" Olivia was beginning to panic even more. "Sometimes it's real?"

"Yeah... sometimes. But, just relax... make yourselves comfortable. We're gonna be here awhile. Try not to think about it." Josh sighed. Olivia nervously sat on the couch next to Josh. Alex sat down in the chair across from Sam's desk.

"I'll be the one to change the subject," Alex exclaimed. "Josh... how goes the desk hunt?"

"We found all of the pieces. But we have to call in a repairman to fix it."

"We did it means Donna did it, right?"

"No!" Josh cried defensively. Alex stared at him, and a few seconds later the glare penetrated him. "Yes. But I'm a high-ranking government official. I have more important things to do than look for pieces of a hidden desk." Alex scoffed. "You're a really cruel person. You know that?"

Alex shrugged. "You silly stringed my office."

"It wasn't entirely him." Sam divulged. "I helped. And so did CJ and Toby."

"I'm coming for you next Seaborn... Hey, wait a minute... did you guys play any pranks on Olivia? I mean, she's new too."

"No." Sam, Josh, and Olivia said at once.

"Why not?!" Alex cried incredulously.

"We like her better than you." Josh replied smugly.

"These guys are really mean, Alex," Olivia exclaimed. "I don't think I like them anymore."

"I never liked them in the first place."

"Hey!" Sam bellowed. "In my defense... Josh forced me to do the prank and I haven't done anything else that's malicious."

"Way to back a friend up!" Josh answered sarcastically.

"I know Sam... I actually think you're a nice guy. I was only kidding." Alex laughed.

"What do you think about me?," asked Josh.

"Oh, you're still mean."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Alex smirked.

Olivia looked down at her watch. "Can't this thing just end? I wanna go and get drunk." Everyone looked at Olivia in shock. She never seemed like the kind of girl who would say that. A few seconds later, she looked up to all of the bewildered stares. "What? Did I say that out loud?" Everyone laughed.

"I concur." Josh smiled. "You guys are going to love this bar. It's called the Blue Rubber Band... best bar in DC."

"Oh before I forget," said Alex, "Josh... Donna says that you're not allowed to have a lot of alcohol... she says you can't hold it."

"Nope. He can't." Sam chuckled.

"I hold my alcohol just fine, thank you!"

"Who are you kidding, Josh? Last time you had more than two drinks you ended up at my apartment wearing a lampshade on your head and telling me that your name was Mrs. Snivelbottoms." Olivia and Alex erupted into giggles at Sam's recollection. Josh rolled his eyes.

"Why isn't Donna coming, anyway?" Josh sighed, eager to get off of the subject.

"She's on a date." Olivia replied.

"With who?"

"Some guy she met at a restaurant the other day." Alex explained.

Josh looked back and forth from Alex to Olivia, slightly confused. "What, are you two like friends with her now?"

"Yes." The two women answered at once.

Josh groaned. "This can't be good."

There was a knock on the office door and the Secret Service agent from earlier popped his head into the room. "Mr. Lyman, Mr. Seaborn, I just found out that the reason for the crash is that our embassy in Evastad has been bombed. At least five dead and seventeen injured. There have also been some threats to DC."

"Who did it?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. I've told you everything I know." The agent left the room, shutting the door again. Josh, Sam, Olivia, and Alex sat in a stunned silence for a minute.

"Well... I guess things won't be boring anymore." Olivia was able to mutter. "Looks like we won't be going out for drinks tonight, though."

Josh had already begun to pull out his cell phone. "I'm calling Leo."

"He'll be on the phone with the Evastadian Prime Minister or Ambassador, won't he?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, but he'll know more than us." Josh paused and dialed. "I'm gonna have to get Donna back in here, too."

"I've got a friend that works somewhere around there for the UN. Maybe he knows something about the victims or the terrorists." Olivia quickly grabbed her cell phone and began to call her friend.

Alex was already on her cell phone, trying to get a hold of CJ. She knew that CJ was going to have to brief the press as soon as the crash ended, and Alex was going to have to help round up the press core and help write CJ's remarks. Sam started to brainstorm for the address that the President was going to inevitably make. He knew that he and Toby would have to fight over it for a while before it was complete, but he should start now.

Their fun time was over. The four Senior Staffers got down to work.

* * *

"CJ! CJ! CJ!"

"Danny!"

CJ stood at the podium in the briefing room, addressing the press core about the bombing. In the hour since the crash had ended, a lot of information had flooded in to the White House. New information was coming in by the second. What was known was that six people were killed and nineteen people injured. Among those killed was the ambassador's wife, and the ambassador himself was critically injured. The terrorists that had bombed the embassy called themselves the Bloody Seraphs, and their threat against Washington DC was a hoax to throw off the US government. It wasn't clear yet what they were standing up for or what, if they had any, their demands were.

Alex was standing behind the window in the pressroom, watching CJ breathlessly. She thought that CJ was handling all of the confusion beautifully and with great poise. Alex could only hope that she was handling the situation as well as CJ was. Her eyes itched with tiredness, every time she opened her mouth she yawned, and any talk of the victims made her want to cry.

There was a tap on Alex's shoulder, and she turned to see Olivia flashing her a weary smile. "Here, it'll help," Olivia whispered, handing Alex a cup of coffee.

"Thanks," she took the cup. "What time is it?"

Olivia looked at her watch. "Almost midnight. How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing okay. How about you?"

"Same... But I never thought working at the White House would be _this_ tiring or _this_ crazy." She and Alex both began to laugh weakly.

"Okay, guys, that's it!," CJ called out. "There will be another briefing in an hour!" CJ stepped down from the podium and out of the pressroom. Just as the press was about to bombard Alex and Olivia with questions, Alex grabbed Olivia's arm and pulled her out of the room. CJ met them in the hallway.

"Hey!" she smiled. "How are you guys holding up?"

"We're managing." Alex stated. "That was brilliant in there, by the way."

"Thanks. But get used to nights like these. They happen all the time." CJ walked on as Olivia and Alex stopped dead in their tracks, contemplating the meaning of those words.

Toby stomped up to them. "Have you two seen Sam anywhere?!"

"No."

"Well if you see him, tell him I'm looking for him! Tell him that his BOSS is looking for him because he has important work to do! Tell him that he needs to hurry up and start working because the President is going to be making an address to the American people in less than twenty-four hours and there is absolutely nothing written for him to say! Tell him—"

"Okay, Toby, chill out." Alex said in what she thought was a comforting voice.

"You want me to chill out? You want me to chill out?! Americans have been killed, Alex, and you want me to chill out?! I am just trying to do my duty to the President and to our country and you act as if nothing has happened! I swear—" Toby continued to ramble on as he walked down the hallway and out of sight.

Toby had struck a nerve with Alex. She had been trying her hardest to keep a brave face on and do her job right. It was her first day and she was doing the best she could. It was all getting to be too much. She just wanted to help. Tears burned threateningly in the back of her throat, and she knew that she had to be alone for a few minutes if she was going to continue to weather this storm.

"Are you okay, Alex?," asked Olivia.

"Yeah... I'm fine... I'm just gonna go to my office now... I've got work to do... Bye." Alex sprinted down the corridor in the direction of her office.

Olivia was about to follow when Sam stopped her. "Olivia! How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. How are you?"

Sam shrugged. "Let's just say that I liked the day better before the crash." Olivia smiled. "Shall I walk you back to your office?"

"Okay." Sam and Olivia began to walk in the direction of her office. "Oh, I almost forgot... Toby's looking for you."

"I know. That's why I'm walking with you. I'm hiding from him."

Olivia giggled. "Why?"

"He's in one of his moods. He thinks that he's so much more patriotic than everyone else because he thinks he's working harder than everyone else. He sees anyone talking about something else or taking a break and he thinks that they shouldn't be working here."

"He came down pretty hard on Alex."

"She shouldn't worry about it. He's in one of his moods."

"You said that already." Olivia laughed. Sam nodded, sheepishly. "So what do you do on these confusing, late nights to keep you up and going?"

"Nothing. I'm one of those natural people."

"Really?" Olivia inquired, disbelieving Sam.

"No... I drink gallons of coffee."

Olivia held up her own coffee cup. "Well I've got a start. I must have a quart in me by now." Sam laughed as they approached her office.

"Good luck with the rest of the night. Stay awake."

"I will, thanks. You too."

"I wi—"

"SAM!!!," came Toby's bellowing voice from down the hallway.

"I gotta go!" And with that, Sam dashed off and Olivia returned to work.

* * *

"Donna!," Josh yelled as he sat in his office. He had just ended his phone conversation with the Evastadian Ambassador. Josh rubbed his haggard eyes as he waited for Donna. She didn't come. "DONNA!!!" A few seconds later, she scrambled into the office carrying a large stack of papers. "Where the hell were you?"

"I can't do fifty things at once Josh. I'm not Wonder Woman."

Josh sighed. "I'm not getting any new information. Do any of the news outlets have anything new?"

"It's Alex's job to know that. She's Media Director. I can't be flipping through news channels while going through these faxes and e-mails and answering the incessant phone calls."

"Go and get Alex then."

"Josh!," Donna cried, sounding overwhelmed.

"Fine! I'll go!" Josh stood up and began to walk quickly toward Alex's office. Donna scurried back to her desk.

Upon reaching Alex's office, Josh found that the streamers in the office were down and a lot of the silly string had been cleared away. Alex was sitting down, watching CNN and from a distance she looked like she was crying. "Hey." Josh said.

"Hi," Alex cried, sounding somewhat surprised and distressed. She swiveled her chair around so that Josh could only see her back, and she furiously wiped the tears away from her eyes and cheeks. Alex quickly spun back around and did her best to smile, though the grin felt very weak. "What's up?" She silently prayed that Josh wouldn't pick up on her anguish.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked, sounding genuinely concerned. He walked in to the office and right up to her desk.

"Nothing," said Alex, trying to act nonchalant.

"You sure?" Josh questioned, skeptically. Alex nodded. Josh looked around. "You really cleaned this place up."

"Yeah... it _was_ a pretty slow day... until a few hours ago." Alex looked at the TV. Josh followed her glance.

"Anything new?"

"Nope. Same stuff they've been reporting for the past hour. Six dead, including Martha Sharn, nineteen injured, including Doug Sharn." Alex's eyes began to well with tears again and she frantically wiped them away.

"Okay, something _is_ wrong," Josh grabbed one of the temporary folding chairs that had been set up, placed its back to her desk, and sat astride. "And you're going to tell me what it is."

"Nothing is wrong!"

"So you're crying for no reason then?"

"Josh... you have more important things to do than talk to me. You're Deputy Chief of Staff for God's sake!"

"I don't care! Tell me what's wrong."

"No!"

"Fine then... I order you to tell me what's wrong. I'm your boss, so you have to follow my order."

"Technically, Toby is my boss but—"

"Shut up! I still outrank you! Tell me what's wrong! I'm not going to stop pestering you until you do."

"Josh—"

"Tell me now!"

Alex sighed. "Well... I guess it's basically that I'm tired. I didn't get much sleep last night in anticipation of today, so I haven't slept for a while. And then... I don't know... you'll think it's stupid... but Toby gave me this whole schpeel about how I'm not doing my duty to the President and to my country—"

"You're going to listen to what Toby says to you?! He's still mad at you for beating him in an election!"

"Yeah, but it just hit a nerve. I mean, that's why I wanted to work here in the first place... to serve the President and my country."

"Here's some advice... don't listen to Toby on nights like these. Something in his head makes him think that he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and that without him, America would crumble in to the ocean. It's just the way Toby is. He's an extremely smart man, but very grumpy. Don't listen to him. You're doing a great job."

"Now you're just lying to me."

"No... I actually mean it... believe it or not."

Alex gave Josh an authentic smile. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Josh sighed. "I guess I should be getting back to work. The country needs me." He stood up and walked to the door.

Alex called to him to stop him at the door. "Josh!" He turned around. "Do you always work that hard to boost workers' morale?"

Josh grinned. "Only the special ones, Alex." He turned and left.

Alex couldn't help but smile to herself as she turned back to flip through the news channels.


	3. Sleep Deprivation

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

* * *

Chapter 3 - Sleep Deprivation

Olivia woke up and looked around. She had no idea where she was. It was obviously an office, but she had no idea whose it was. She looked down and saw that she had been resting comfortably on a couch. "What the—"she began to mutter.

Toby walked in to the office and grabbed a folder off of the desk. He turned around and saw that she was awake. "Good. You're awake. I was just coming to wake you up. We have a Senior Staff meeting in five minutes."

"This is your office?"

Toby looked around. "I guess it is." His voice was softer and kinder than it had been the night before.

"Why am I in here?"

"You don't remember?" Olivia shook her head. Toby laughed to himself for a second. "You were practically dead on your feet. I don't think that you would have made it to your office. You were muttering... something about lacy octopuses? I really don't know. So I just let you lay down in... my office."

"How long have I been asleep? What time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "Three hours. It's 8:30. And... we're late for the Staff meeting." Toby grimaced. He walked out of the office and Olivia quickly got off of the couch and followed.

"Did anything happen while I was asleep?"

"No. No new information is coming in."

"Did you sleep?"

"No. I couldn't. I had work to do _and_ there was someone on my couch."

They walked in silence for a few seconds. "You know... you were really mean to Alex last night. I think you owe her an apology."

"I do not owe anyone an apology. I have to motivate my people to work, don't I?!"

"Well, yes, but you hurt her feelings. And it was her first day. She was doing her best."

"I don't care." He glanced to his watch again. "We're late," he muttered.

"Tell you what," Olivia said, feeling sort of devilish. "If we are late to the meeting, then I won't bother you about this anymore and you don't have to apologize, but if they are _not_ in the meeting when we get there, then you have to apologize to Alex."

"You really will stop pestering me?" Olivia nodded. "Fine. It's a deal."

They walked in to the office just outside of the Oval Office to find Josh, Sam, CJ, and Alex standing around. None of them were talking. They all looked miserable and half-asleep. Charlie was asleep at his desk. Olivia snickered into Toby's ear. Toby rolled his eyes.

"The meeting hasn't begun yet?" Toby mumbled.

"Leo's briefing the President," Josh sighed.

"I win!," whispered Olivia. "Apologize. Or I will annoy you until you do!" Toby looked unsure of himself for a moment. He was deciding which road would be worse to take.

After a long deliberation period, he sighed. "Alex... I'd like to say... that I'm sorry for giving you a hard time last night." He said it so quietly that it was almost inaudible. "There, are you happy?!," he mumbled to Olivia.

"Thank you Toby! That means a lot to me!" Alex was almost in tears as she said it. She grabbed Toby and pulled him into a hug where he looked incredibly uncomfortable. Then she stepped away. "God I'm tired!" She wiped her eyes as Leo came out and beckoned them into the Oval Office.

Leo stopped Olivia at the door. He looked concerned. "How are you doing kiddo?"

"I'm doing good, Uncle Leo, thanks."

"Have you gotten any sleep?"

"A couple of hours... on Toby's couch."

Leo shrugged and smiled. "Better than nothing." He and Olivia walked back into the Oval.

"Alex, Olivia, how was your first day?" The President asked.

"Tiring." Alex answered.

"Yeah... it's unfortunate you two had to join our team on such a somber, strenuous day. But I'm sure you both handled it remarkably."

"Thank you, Mr. President." Olivia and Alex chorused.

"Let's get down to business. I'm addressing the nation at eight tonight, right?"

"Yes, sir." Leo replied. "Toby, Sam, how goes the speech?"

"Great." Toby and Sam responded at once. Olivia smiled to herself. She could tell by the look on Sam's face that he was lying. She didn't quite understand why she had the knack for telling when that man was lying.

"Good," the President continued. "CJ is continuing with the press briefings, right?"

"Yes, sir. But since no new information is coming in, I'm back to my normal schedule instead of one every hour."

"Good. Is there anything else I should know?" Everyone else shook his or her head. "Okay. You can all go. And get some rest if you get the chance."

"Thank you, Mr. President." Everyone said together as they all started to file out of the room.

Olivia caught up with Sam and smiled at him. He smiled back. "Why did you and Toby lie about the speech?"

Sam was caught off guard. "You knew we were lying?"

"Yeah. I don't know what it is, but I can always tell when you are lying."

"Really?" Olivia nodded. "Have you seen yourself in a mirror lately?" She shook her head. "In that case... you look ravishing." He walked away as Olivia ran off in search of a mirror.

Alex had been zoning out and was staring at Sam and Olivia. She laughed at Sam's comment. It would benefit Olivia to look in a mirror. Her hair was sticking out at all angles and her makeup was smeared all over her face. Alex knew that she couldn't look much better than Olivia. She had been awake and stressed out for the past two nights.

Suddenly, CJ's voice made Alex spring back to reality. "You look tired."

"So do you." Alex said, groggily. They walked out of the Oval Office together.

"Yeah, but I'm used to it. It's your first day."

"It's not my first day anymore." Alex laughed. CJ laughed too.

"You know, you can get some sleep. I can do the briefings and stuff by myself."

"No! I'm not going to let you do this alone. It's too stressful and confusing right now. I'll be there for you even if the only thing I can do is cheer you on. Besides... keep the coffee coming and I'll stay awake as long as you want."

"Thanks. You're really sweet, you know that?"

"I try."

"Alex, can I ask you a favor?" Alex nodded. "If for some reason I'm sick or something and can't do a briefing, will you do it? Or at least make sure that Josh doesn't do it? If he does it the President will suddenly have a secret plan to fight inflation again."

Alex laughed. "Okay. I think I can do that."

"Good." CJ paused. "So there's another hour before the next briefing and I have everything I need information-wise... unless something new comes in which is unlikely. You want to watch a movie or something in my office? I can have Carol keep a watch on the news and stuff."

"Okay." Alex smiled and CJ smiled back. "Do you think we could get something to eat? Like doughnuts? I'm really hungry."

"Carol!" CJ called as she and Alex entered her office.

* * *

"And so I thank those heroes that sacrificed everything they had in Evastad. God bless them, God bless their families, and God bless America."

"We're out!"

The President's address had just ended. The Oval Office, which had been in a standstill, suddenly sprang back to life. People began running all over clearing cameras and wires. "Everyone go and get some sleep!" Jed called. CJ walked up to his desk. "CJ, get some sleep."

"I would, Mr. President, but I have to do another briefing."

"Well after that... no going out tonight. That's an order."

"Yes, sir."

CJ and Alex walked out of the Oval Office toward the briefing room. "We're still going out for drinks tonight, right?" Alex asked.

"Of course!"

Olivia stood in the Oval Office, staring at the President in awe. The speech had been phenomenal, and the President had delivered it wonderfully. She was woken from her trance by Sam's voice. "Hey."

"That was... amazing!," Olivia said, breathlessly. "You really wrote that in less than twenty-four hours?"

Sam shrugged. "Toby helped."

"Still..."

"Walk with me." Sam led Olivia out of the Oval with his hand on the small of her back. "CJ, Alex, and some of the rest of us are going out for drinks after the briefing. Do you wanna come?"

"The President just ordered us to sleep and not go out."

"We don't follow every order the President gives us. Just the important ones. It's not like we need to tell the President that we went out for drinks."

"I don't know... I am really tired..."

"We all are. And you actually got some sleep. You know you want to come."

Olivia felt giddy and playful. Of course she wanted to go, but she was going to tease Sam. She put on her most serious face. "No, I don't think that it's a good idea. You shouldn't be going either, Sam. You haven't slept in over twenty-four hours, you've been working hard, and you're going to have to work hard again tomorrow. You are an important member of this administration, and you should take care of yourself so that you can continue to work for your country. In all honesty, Sam, I'd be very disappointed if you went out for drinks tonight."

Sam began to look sad and nervous. "I didn't know you felt that way, Olivia. If you really feel like that, then I won't go." Olivia burst out laughing. Sam was puzzled. "Were you lying?" Olivia was laughing so hard that she could only nod. "So I can't tell when you're lying, but you can tell when I'm lying? That's not fair. I take it you're coming?" Olivia nodded. Sam sighed. "Okay."

* * *

Alex sat behind the window in the pressroom. Her legs were so tired that she felt that she would collapse if she stood on them any longer. CJ's briefing was going well. The press actually seemed to be acting nicely. Alex knew that the briefing would be over any minute, but she had the strongest urge to just shut her eyes.

Just as she was dozing off, Alex felt someone sit next to her. "Tired?," she heard Josh's voice ask.

"You think?," she answered sarcastically, struggling to open her eyes.

"You shouldn't come out for drinks tonight. Get some sleep."

"I'll be fine."

"You can barely stay awake now. What's going to happen when you're in a dark room with alcohol in your system?"

"Can't be worse than what happens when you have a few drinks."

"You're half-asleep and you still manage to insult me," Josh laughed. "That's nice."

"The opportunity presented itself so you know I had to take it." Alex turned to look at CJ. "CJ's done." Josh and Alex stood up and walked out of the pressroom. "I've got to go get ready."

"Yeah, you really should tidy yourself up a bit. You look like the Bride of Frankenstein right now."

"That was payment for what I said in there, wasn't it?"

Josh shrugged. "The opportunity presented itself." Alex rolled her eyes and walked away.

* * *

A half hour later, CJ, Alex, Olivia, Josh, Sam, and Toby walked into The Blue Rubber Band. It was your average bar. There was a nice atmosphere to it. The lighting was very dim, but there were disco balls all over. The bar was on the side and in the center was a large dance floor surrounded by tables. Music was blaring.

Everyone was surprised that Toby had decided to come. They had all been asking him if he wanted to come for two days straight, and he said no every time. Finally, Olivia practically begged for him to come, and Toby said yes, though it seemed reluctantly.

They sat down at a table, the girls on one side, and the guys on the other. None of them talked much because they were all so tired. Sam was the first to speak. "Can someone remind me... why did we come here? We're all tired and stressed out. We should be sleeping... and I don't think that I've brushed my teeth in at least twenty-four hours."

"Shut up with the hygiene stuff Spanky," CJ retorted. "We're here to get to know the newbies."

"I'm here to get drunk," Olivia moaned.

CJ laughed, but then continued her rant to Sam. "Besides... _I'm_ not tired."

"You scare me, you know that?"

At that point, the waitress came over to the table to take their orders. Toby ordered a Jack Daniels, CJ got a Grasshopper, Alex wanted a martini (with no olives), Olivia got a white wine, Sam got a brandy, and Josh ordered a Michelob. "A Michelob?!" Alex chuckled. "Could that _be_ any more boring?!"

"It's a classic! How can you not enjoy a classic?!"

"I didn't say I didn't enjoy it. I said it was boring."

"You're incorrigible." Josh groaned.

"Thank you! You too."

"This place is giving me a headache." Toby mumbled, rubbing his head.

"You decided to come." CJ replied.

"No, you all annoyed me until I came. There's a difference."

The song "Dancing Queen" by Abba began to play. Alex gasped. "I love this song!," she cried. "I'm dancing!" She jumped out of her chair so fast that it almost fell over, and a split second later she was on the dance floor.

"Ooh! I wanna dance!" CJ stood up, but before she headed to the dance floor she turned to the guys. "You guys coming?"

"No," all of the men said at once.

"You're all sissies. I hope you know that."

"We do," Josh said. CJ joined Alex on the dance floor. Both women were singing along to the song as they danced.

Olivia turned to Sam. "I really feel like dancing too. You wanna dance, Sam?" Sam wasn't sure what to say. Of course he _wanted_ to dance with Olivia. But if he did, he felt like he would disrupt the brotherhood that he felt he had with Josh and Toby at that moment. He looked back and forth between the other men and Olivia, trying to decide what to do. Olivia had a pleading look in her eyes, but Josh and Toby were giving him stern glances, willing him to stay.

He finally made his decision. "No. I don't want to dance."

"Why not?" Olivia pouted.

Sam attempted to remain strong. "Because I don't want to hurt the brotherhood that I have with the guys."

"Brotherhood?" Josh and Toby asked together.

"Yeah. I felt like we had a brotherly bond... a brotherhood if you will... you know, a brotherhood against dancing."

"You make no sense." Josh exclaimed.

"I know. What I mean is that—"

"Shut up!' Olivia yelled. She grabbed Sam's arm and dragged him onto the dance floor, next to CJ and Alex. They began to dance with each other, at a distance. "See? This isn't that bad!"

"You're right," Sam grinned. "This is actually kind of fun."

"Kind of fun?! I am having a BLAST!!!" Olivia began to get very into the music. She was tossing her body all over, and Sam couldn't help but laugh. Sam decided that he would try and imitate her movements. He was very awkward, and Olivia laughed, with him, not at him.

Back at the table, Josh turned to Toby. "Let's go dance."

"Let me think about that..." Toby smirked. "No!"

"Why not?! They look like they're having fun. And it's not like it's slow dancing or anything."

"Josh... tell me... do you honestly think that it is possible that _I_ could have fun out there?"

Josh nodded. "You're right. You stay here. I'll go dance." Josh headed out to the dance floor, and walked right over to CJ and Alex. "How's everybody doing?"

"Joshua!," CJ shouted. "Mi amor! You made it!" She kissed Josh on the cheek.

"CJ, are you sure you haven't had any drinks tonight? You're acting like you're drunk."

"I'm drunk on life Joshua. Now... dance with us." CJ and Alex continued to dance. Josh began to bob up and down.

"You call that dancing?!" Alex exclaimed. "You look more like a blender!"

"First of all," Josh rebutted. "Blenders spin, they don't move up and down. Second of all, I don't dance a lot, okay?!" Alex laughed.

Suddenly, the song changed to "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John. Sam, Olivia, Josh, CJ, and Alex all stopped dancing. "Well," CJ said awkwardly. "This is obviously a slow dance number. Seeing as there's enough couples here without me, I'll go check on our drinks, because they're taking way too long. And then I'll go keep Toby company." CJ scurried off of the dance floor.

"Let's go sit down." Josh uttered, eager to get off of the dance floor.

"Wait!," Alex began to clumsily say. "We could still dance... slow dance... if you want. Only if you want to! Because... I wouldn't mind."

Josh deliberated in his head for a second. "Okay." They stepped closer together, awkwardly. Neither quite knew where to put their hands. Finally, Josh grabbed Alex's right hand and put his right hand on her back. She put her left hand on his back. They began to sway to the music. Both of them smiled.

"Ow!" Alex yelped.

"What?"

"That was my FOOT, Josh!"

"Sorry."

Olivia, startled by the sudden arrival of a slow song, quickly turned to leave the dance floor. "Hey! I didn't say that we were done dancing yet!" Sam called to her.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean... can I have this dance?"

Olivia smiled. "Okay." She walked back up to Sam and wrapped her arms around his neck. He put his hands on her lower back. They began to dance slowly.

"I would dip you," Sam began, "but I'm not that suave."

"I understand."

"I mean, I wish I was. When I was twelve, I wanted to be James Bond. Then I realized that it wouldn't work because I wasn't that sophisticated... and I'm not British... and I'm not quite as handsome as he is."

"Don't say that. I think that you're just as handsome as James Bond, if not more."

"Really?" Olivia nodded and then placed her head on Sam's shoulder, shutting her eyes. "Cool," Sam smiled to himself.

The song ended a few minutes later. Josh, Alex, Olivia, and Sam, seeing that their drinks were ready, returned to the table. As they began to drink their beverages, they sat in silence.

"This is fun," CJ announced. "We should do it more often." Everyone, except Toby, smiled.


	4. Dresses, Dinners, and Dates

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: Thanks so much to kursk for the reviews. As for the whole JoshDonna thing... you'll have to stay tuned until the end to find out.

* * *

Chapter 4- Dresses, Dinners, and Dates

The next few weeks, while being relatively stormy at first glance, did not turn out to be all that terrible. Olivia and Alex were able to get into the swing of things at the White House. The Staff accepted them as one of their own, for the most part. Many friendships were built, and things had calmed down.

Olivia was walking through the hallways toward CJ's office. Donna caught up with her and began to walk alongside her. "Are you guys going to pick out your dresses now?" Donna asked.

"Yeah. You should come."

"Nah. I should stay and work. Besides... I can't go to the dinner. I'm only the Senior Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, which I guess, according to whoever draws up the guest list to these events, isn't important enough to go." Later that week, the English Prime Minister was coming for a diplomatic visit to the United States. There would be a State Dinner while he was there, and the Senior Staff all had invites.

"Apparently, whoever draws up the guest list doesn't spend much time in the West Wing. Otherwise they would know that Josh would be a complete wreck without you."

Donna smiled. "Thanks. Hey, can you tell Alex that Josh wants to see her when she gets back?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks." Donna turned and walked away as Olivia reached CJ's office. She walked through the open door to find CJ and Alex examining a tape of CJ's recent appearance on Capital Beat.

"You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah!," Alex and CJ jumped up enthusiastically.

* * *

The three women enjoyed a pleasant lunch at a nice, little café. Afterwards they headed to what seemed like thousands of stores, trying on fancy dresses, shoes, jewelry, and hand purses. They were all so conflicted and had so little time that none of them made their final decisions on what to wear. Of course, they had already procrastinated for a while, and they all knew that they should know what dress they were going to wear. But they didn't care about that. Procrastination was fun.

When they returned to the White House, Alex headed straight to Josh's office. She saw Donna sitting at her desk. "Josh wanted to see me?"

"Yeah. He's at Leo's right now, but he'll be back in a minute. You can wait in his office."

Alex grinned and walked into Josh's office, sitting in the chair in front of his desk. She inspected her nails while she waited. A minute later, she could hear Josh coming down the hallway. "Donna! Get Congressman Traub on the phone. I have to talk to him about the new foreign policy bill."

"Okay. Alex is in your office."

"Thanks." Josh came into the office a second later. "What's up?," he said to Alex.

"I don't know. You wanted to see me."

"How was the dress shopping?" He sat down at his desk and began to sort through papers as he spoke with Alex.

"Fine."

"What are you going to wear?"

"Haven't decided. There are three dresses that I really love, but I can't choose."

"Well, show them to me. I'll decide for you."

"Yeah, because you know so much about fashion and all," Alex said sarcastically. "If it's up to you, I'll show up at this thing looking like Little Bo Peep."

"I heard that she was quite the fashionista."

"How did you know that word?"

Josh shrugged. "I watch entertainment channels when I get bored."

"What are you wearing?"

"A tux."

"That's it? A tux? Where is the tux from? Is there a bow tie? What kind of shoes are you wearing? Are you planning on wearing socks?"

"Okay, I get it. You don't think that I'm very fashionable."

"That's absolutely correct." Alex laughed. "Now why did you want to see me?"

"You know that next week the House is voting on our foreign policy bill?" Alex nodded. "We need to get more guys on our side. I want you to talk to Congressman Daniel Champlin and get him on our side. He'll be at the dinner. He's a Democrat from somewhere in Arizona." Josh handed Alex a folder, but she took it apprehensively.

"Why can't you talk to him?"

"It's complicated." Josh rubbed his eyes.

"He hates you?"

"That's just about it."

"All right. I'll do it." Alex started to browse through the file. She stood up and walked toward the door, but before she reached it, she turned around. "So do you want me to flirt with him a little bit or what?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said, do you want me to flirt with him a little bit? Trust me, a little bit of flirting can go a long way. Not that I flirt with guys all the time to get them to see my way... just when arguing doesn't work. And it says here that he's single so no harm can come of it."

Josh stood up. "I can't believe you're asking me this! Of course you can't flirt with him! If anything, it will make things worse! Flirting is a turnoff!"

"Really? So you've never changed your mind about something because a cute girl flirted with you?"

He stammered slightly. "No!"

"You know, I could just start flirting with you right now and you'd totally let me flirt with this other guy."

Donna walked into the office. "Josh... Congressman Traub is on line three." She left. Alex turned to leave as well.

"Don't flirt!" Josh called after her. She held up an okay sign with her hand and walked away.

* * *

Olivia walked into her office after the dress hunt. As she went into her office, she found Sam sitting in front of her desk. "This is a lovely surprise." She smiled at him, and then sat at her desk.

"How was the dress hunt?"

"So much fun! We had a blast! I had no idea that there were_ that_ many gorgeous dresses in the world."

"Did you find your dress?"

"Yes." Olivia lied. Sam obviously did not pick up on the fact that she was lying, and she smirked to herself.

"What does it look like?"

"Um..." Olivia hesitated. "You're going to have to wait and find out. I'm not going to tell you, you nosy little... person!"

"Okay," Sam said, slightly frightened. "Anyway... can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Well the thing is, we're passing our foreign policy bill in the House next week—"

"I thought we all already agreed on the bill."

Sam paused. "No... I meant the House of Representatives. Not the White House."

"Oh! I get it!"

"Everyone wants me to talk to Congressmen Petty and Congresswoman Lobello. And they're both going to be at the State Dinner. The only problem is that they always vote together, and they won't let me talk to each of them separately. So it's going to be two against one, and I was wondering if you would talk to them with me so that it would be... well... two against two."

"Okay. Petty and Lobello?"

"Yeah. And I was thinking... maybe we should rehearse what we're going to say a little bit. I'm sure we can get Josh or Alex or someone to play the parts of Petty and Lobello."

"That's good because it would look really bad if we went in there not knowing what to say and looking like bumbling idiots."

"No... that wouldn't be good." Sam thought about the horrible possibilities. A few seconds later, he jumped back to reality. "Well I should be going. Toby and I have to work on the President's speech for the dinner."

"Don't let Toby kill you." Sam laughed and left the office.

* * *

On the day of the dinner, Alex and Olivia had been given the go-ahead to go home to get ready. They both went to Alex's apartment (which was closer to the White House) to get ready. Instead of hiring a professional stylist, the women decided to do their own hair and makeup, while praying to God that it would turn out all right.

They had finally picked their dresses the day before. Olivia would be wearing an emerald green, silk, sleeveless dress that had a high neckline, but exposed most of her back. The color of the dress brought out her eyes and tan skin. Her hair would be worn down in curls around her face, and she was wearing only a slight bit more makeup than usual. Alex had chosen a midnight blue, sparkly, halter-top dress. There was a wrap with it to match. She wore her hair back in an elegant bun, with a curly wisp coming down on each side.

As the women were putting the finishing touches on their makeup, they became as giddy as schoolgirls before their first dance. "I am so excited about this and I don't know why!" Olivia squealed.

"Me too! Oh, I feel like this is prom!"

"Yeah, but we don't have any cool dates to come and pick us up in a limo and that we can brag about." She pouted.

"What about Sam?," Alex asked, slyly.

"What about Sam?"

"Well... I mean... There's obviously some attraction going on there... you should ask him out."

"No way!" Olivia forced a laugh.

"What? You don't like him?!"

"I like him as a friend! Nothing... nothing more." Olivia had suddenly gotten quiet, and she herself couldn't believe how hard it had been to say those words. A thought occurred to her, and she rapidly got her confidence back. "If anyone should ask anyone out, it should be you and Josh!"

"Excuse me?!" Alex cried in disbelief.

"Come on! It is SO completely evident that you like him! It drives Donna and I crazy! You two just need to go out already!"

"That man drives me nuts!" Olivia laughed hysterically. Alex started laughing too. "Forget it! I can't talk to you anymore! I'm leaving!" Alex grabbed her wrap and hand purse and left. Olivia, who was still cackling, soon followed.

When Alex and Olivia arrived back at the White House, they headed straight for their offices to check on things before heading to the dinner. People bustled about the hallways as usual, though some of the people were dressed up very nicely. The feast had obviously not begun yet.

Alex checked with her assistant to make sure that she had not missed anything important. She checked her watch and found that the event was about to start. Alex left her office and started heading toward the dinner when she accidentally stepped on her dress, causing her to trip and fall face-first onto the floor. She heard a familiar laugh from behind her, and soon found Josh's hands helping her off of the ground. "Good one," he said, with a teasing tone to his voice.

"Thanks," Alex replied dully before turning to face him. As she was about to speak, she noticed Josh staring, transfixed, at her. His jaw had practically dropped to his chest. Alex laughed to herself. "You like?," she asked, spinning and modeling her gown.

"It's... nice." Josh whispered with a parched mouth. He thought she looked incredible.

"Just nice, huh?" Alex giggled. She looked at Josh in his tux. She thought that he looked quite debonair. "You don't clean up so badly yourself... Although, your tie is crooked." Alex approached him and straightened his tie. "Just so you know, I've been studying, and I know exactly what I'm going to say to Champlin."

"And you're not going to flirt with him, right?"

"I'll do whatever I have to, Josh."

"Alex! Listen to me! It's not going to do any good! You could screw up this whole thing! Just talk to him like a normal person! Don't use any of your feminine sexuality or whatever it is on him, okay?!"

"Fine! If you feel so strongly about it I won't do it!"

"Really? Do you promise not to?"

"Cross my heart." Alex drew an X over her heart. "Why are you so defensive over that, anyway?"

"I'm not—" Just as Josh was about to go on another one of his tangents, CJ walked over. She was wearing a baby-blue dress worn off the shoulders.

"Hey Alex! Hey Skippy! You both look nice... Love the dress, Alex. Is that the Armani?"

"No, it's the Versace. I see you got the Armani though."

"Of course! Are you going to the dinner now?"

"Yeah."

"What about you, Joshua?"

"No, I have to finish up a thing."

"Okay, well I'll walk with you, Alex." The women said goodbye to Josh and headed for the dinner.

* * *

Olivia was passing through the Communications bullpen on the way to her office, when she noticed Toby in his office. She changed her route and went to Toby's open door. "Knock, knock." Toby turned, gave her a smile, and then returned to his work. "You're not at the dinner yet?"

"No. I'm putting finishing touches on the President's remarks."

"Oh, I see." She paused. "You look nice Toby."

"Thank you... so-so do you."

"Thank you."

Just then, Sam breezed past Olivia and put a paper on Toby's desk. "I finished the paragraph on the US and England's similarities. Here it is, because I know you'll want to change it all." Sam turned and noticed Olivia for the first time. He stopped dead in his tracks. He had never seen anyone look so beautiful in all of his life. "Olivia," he managed to stammer. "You look... wow."

Olivia smiled. "Thank you. You look wow yourself." She thought that he looked absolutely adorable in his tux. "Very James Bond."

Sam grinned brightly. "Thank you. I was just—"

"Excuse me, but could you two take this love-fest somewhere else? There are some people that are trying to get their work done!" Toby bellowed. He was tense and annoyed about the speech.

"Would you step into my office for a moment?" Sam asked Olivia, as he led the way to his office right next-store. Olivia followed. Sam sat down behind his desk.

Olivia sat in front of his desk. "Shouldn't you be working on the speech?"

"Yeah." Sam shrugged. "But I can spare a minute for you."

"Thank you."

"You remember what we're going to say to Petty and Lobello, right?"

"Yeah, I really feel like we're prepared. I mean, we practiced it so many times under so many different scenarios that I don't think anything could go wrong."

"I feel prepared too. I just wish that Josh hadn't kept pretending that no matter what we did, Congressman Petty would take over the world in an evil, diabolical plot."

Olivia laughed at the memory. A few seconds of silence followed. Finally, she decided that it was time for her to go. "Well, I should be going to the dinner now. I'll leave you to your speech-writing. Good luck, by the way."

"Thanks."

Olivia stood up and tried to walk away but she realized that her dress was caught on Sam's chair. "Crap! It's stuck!" She fiddled her fingers around, trying to release the dress but nothing worked.

Sam stood up and ran over to her. "Here, let me help." Both of them continued to try and tug the dress out. At last, after one big yank, the dress came free, but because she had pulled so hard, Olivia lost her balance and started to fall forward. Sam caught her before she hit the ground. They stood in each other's arms for a moment, in silence. Then, Sam whispered, "I thought you said you were going."

Olivia jumped back to reality. "Oh yeah! Sorry!" She pushed away from Sam and headed to the door. "I'll see you at the dinner, then?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Olivia turned and hustled out of the office. She had been so comfortable in Sam's arms, but it had suddenly gotten uncomfortable, and she had no idea why. Knowing that food would take her mind off of this problem, Olivia went to the dinner.

Olivia walked into the ballroom where the dinner was being held and was amazed. It had been transformed. There was a stage setup where the band was playing welcoming music. Tables and chairs were setup all over, and there was a small dance floor in the center. Flowers and pretty lights had been put around.

As she walked into the room, she was stopped by Leo. "Hey there, kiddo."

"Hi Uncle Leo!

"I can't believe it. You're getting so old... your first state dinner... wow. What do you think?"

"Well, for the ten seconds that I've been here it's been rather nice."

"I thought you'd enjoy it." Leo beamed, broadly. "You look beautiful. Turn around and let me see this dress." Olivia spun around so that Leo could see her dress. He frowned. "Are you sure that that dress isn't too revealing?"

"Uncle Leo... it's fine."

"I just don't want any men taking advantage of my baby sister's baby girl. I know for a fact that I wouldn't let Mallory wear that dress... You might catch a cold."

"Uncle Leo!" Olivia said, warningly.

"All right, all right, I'll back off. But don't say I didn't warn you." Olivia giggled. "I'm afraid that I have to be off, kiddo. CJ is going to announce the President and the Prime Minister soon, and we have to be at our tables when they come in. Have fun. And save a dance for me, will you?"

"I will." Leo walked away. Olivia looked around. She realized that she had absolutely no idea where she was sitting. Luckily, at that moment, Alex came to her rescue. "Alex... do you know where I'm supposed to sit?"

"Yeah. With me. And CJ and Sam and Toby and Josh. Our table is this way." Alex started winding through the tables, and Olivia ensued. They reached a table that was a little to the left of the center table. "This is it." The circular table, with a navy blue tablecloth, was seated for six. There were placards at each seat. Clockwise from Olivia's seat, the following people were to be seated: Sam, Alex, Josh, CJ, and Toby. No one else was at the table yet. Alex and Olivia sat down.

"Where is everybody?" Olivia inquired.

"CJ's getting ready to announce the arrivals of the President and the Prime Minister. Josh, Sam, and Toby should be here any minute."

"So what is happening?"

"Well... we're going to have to stand when each leader walks in. Then they each make a short speech. Then they serve the appetizers, then the entrees, and so on and so forth. We can't go walk around and mingle until after the appetizers are served."

"Where is Leo sitting?"

"With the President and Prime Minister... over there." Alex pointed to the center table. Leo and several other unknown men sat at the table. Four spots were left open, for the leaders and their spouses.

Just then, Josh, Sam, and Toby came over to the table and sat down. Toby looked rather angry. "It was a horrible speech, and the President is going to say it all wrong and make it worse. My career is ruined."

"Don't say that," Sam exclaimed. "It wasn't all that bad. Granted, my paragraphs could have used a bit more polishing, but all in all it isn't the worse speech I've ever written." Sam paused. "Oh God, it is."

"I'm sure the speech is fine." Olivia replied, comfortingly.

"Yeah, and the President is a great speaker... he'll do wonderfully." Alex said.

"Shows how much you know." Toby put his head in his hands.

"Don't try to talk them out of putting themselves down," Josh said to Alex and Olivia. "They always get like this before a speech."

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?" CJ cried from the stage. The talking quieted down. "May I present to you the Prime Minister of England, Philip Weston and his wife, Joanna Weston." Everyone stood as the English national anthem began to play. Philip Weston and his wife, both looking quite distinguished, strolled into the hall, nodded to those around them, and took their places at the adjacent table.

When the song was over, CJ spoke again. "Now I present to you, the President of the United States, Jed Bartlet, and the First Lady, Abigail Bartlet." "Hail to the Chief" began to play as Jed and Abbey walked into the ballroom. They smiled and waved as they walked to the table. Once Abbey had taken her spot, Jed and Philip both walked up to the stage. CJ stepped down, and she quickly joined the others at the table as everyone sat down and the Prime Minister began his remarks.

The Prime Minister was a very good speaker. His accent drove the American girls in the room wild. The speech that he delivered was nice, but it was nothing compared to the President's. The President brought a life into the speech that made everyone hang on his every word. And they were good words too. Alex, Olivia, Josh, and CJ were enraptured, while Toby and Sam muttered to themselves.

After the speeches were done, the President and Prime Minister sat back down. There was a few minutes left until appetizers would be served.

"Well done Sam and Toby!" Olivia cried. She started to applaud them quietly and the rest of the table joined.

Sam smiled at the cheers, but Toby scowled. "Apparently you all didn't notice that the President completely floundered paragraph six. It was supposed to be—"

"No it wasn't! It was fine! Now shut up Toby!" Olivia asserted. The other Senior Staffers stared at her in awe. Even Toby didn't know what to say.

"God I'm hungry," Josh moaned. "What're the appetizers?"

Alex prepared for her long explanation. "President Bartlet said that the appetizers were—"

"Please tell me that you didn't let the President go on one of his tangents about the food." CJ wailed.

"We were having a very pleasant conversation about food and this dinner and—"

"Was it really a pleasant conversation or were you listening to him talk while being bored out of your mind?"

Alex paused, but then finally gave in. "He's the leader of this country. He could call fifty Secret Service agents in to kill me at the press of a button. What was I supposed to do? Say, 'Mr. President, you're boring the hell out of me right now. Could you please stop?'"

"No, no, no." Josh sympathized. "What you have to do is suddenly remember an emergency appointment and cut him off."

"Isn't that disrespectful?"

"Yes, which is why none of us ever do it." CJ exclaimed. "Were you hoping that she'd get in trouble, Joshua?"

"I just wanted to see if she'd do it. I would have stopped her before she did."

As CJ and Josh continued to argue, Sam turned to Alex. "You could just do what I do and tune him out."

"And that isn't disrespectful?"

"Not if you do it accurately." Alex laughed as waiters descended on the table, serving the appetizers. People all around them began to mingle. Josh began eat.

CJ stood up. "I finally get to go and hit on that tall, British guy I've had my eye on all week. I think he's like the British Secretary of Defense."

"Are you sure he isn't the butler?" Sam asked, sarcastically.

Ignoring that comment, CJ went on. "Wish me luck." Various, unenthusiastic good luck wishes rang out from the table, and CJ left.

Alex grabbed an appetizer, shoved it in her mouth, and stood up. "Well, I'm off to serve my country." Josh gave her a stern look. "Calm down Josh, I'm not going to do it."

"Do what?" Olivia inquired, but Alex had left and Josh had returned to his food.

Sam glanced at his watch. "We should go too. They'll be in the Mural Room in five minutes."

"Okay." Olivia and Sam stood up and began to walk together toward the Mural Room. "Is it right for me to be nervous?"

"Yeah. I always get nervous before I have to talk people into something."

"Even a great writer like you?"

"Writing and speaking are two different things."

"Right." Olivia took a deep breath to calm her nerves. They walked in silence the rest of the way. Just before Sam opened the door to the Mural Room, Olivia muttered, "Good luck."

"You too."

* * *

Sam and Olivia emerged from the Mural Room thirty minutes later with two new votes for the foreign policy bill. As soon as the door was shut behind them, Olivia squealed, "We did it!"

"We did do it, didn't we?" Olivia jumped into Sam's arms, and he lifted her off of the ground and twirled her around. After he put her down, he said, "This calls for a celebration. Champagne... on me."

"Drinks are free here."

"I know. That's why they're on me." Olivia laughed as they walked back to the ballroom. "You know what? I am feeling the need to dance. I think that I'm going to have to ask you to dance with me."

"Sam..." Olivia said apprehensively, remembering Sam's previous dance moves. "Do you really want to dance in front of all of these people?"

"Why not?"

Olivia could think of no delicate way to put it. "You're going to make a fool out of yourself."

Sam contemplated her words as Leo came over. "Hey Olivia. Hey Sam. The speech was magnificent."

"Thank you."

"Were you about to dance with my niece or can I steal her away for a few minutes for a dance?"

"She didn't want to dance with me. She said that I would make a fool out of myself."

"That's not very nice," Leo scolded Olivia.

"But it's true Uncle Leo!" Olivia whined.

"I don't doubt it. Now... may I have this dance?"

"Of course!" They waved at Sam as Leo led Olivia onto the dance floor. Sam smiled and watched, not being able to rid his mind of the fact that he and Olivia had hugged twice in one night.

* * *

Alex crept slowly into the ballroom after her meeting with Congressman Champlin. She looked around the room very carefully for Josh. The coast was clear. If there was one person she didn't want to see at that moment, it was Josh.

"Hey!," came Josh's voice from behind her. Alex cursed under her breath, put on her best fake smile, and turned around to face him. "How'd the meeting go?"

Alex looked around nervously. "Um... can I talk to you out there?"

"What the hell did you do, Alex?! How on earth did you screw this up?!" Josh shouted.

"Josh—"

"I gave you the simplest job I could think of... that I thought you were capable of... and what do you do?! Screw it up—"

"Josh! Can I PLEASE talk to you out there?! You are making a scene!"

Josh looked around at all of the people who had stopped what they were doing and were staring at the fight. He sighed, "Fine!" He and Alex quickly hurried out of the ballroom. They didn't say a word to each other until they had reached the hallways of the west wing. "How the hell did you screw this up?! Is he suddenly a Republican now?!"

"No."

"Is he suing us?!"

"No."

"Is he voting 'nay' on the bill?!"

"No."

"Did you accidentally kill him?!"

"No."

"Then what did you do?!" Josh was fuming. Alex knew that she couldn't put off the truth any longer. She stared at her feet and mumbled something inaudibly. "What?!"

"I said..." Alex sighed. "Dan asked me out on a date." She finally looked up to Josh. He looked like a fish out of water. His mouth was wide open, his eyes were stuck on her, and apparently his brain had stopped working because he wasn't showing any signs of life.

"Did you say yes?" He said so quietly that it scared the living daylights out of Alex. She cautiously nodded. Josh seemed to explode. "Why?! Why would you do that?!"

"He's a sweet guy, Josh—"

"No he is not! He is a stupid, lousy, worthless politician!"

"Kind of like you?!"

"No! This one thinks he's smart! I'm actually smart!" Alex sneered. "He's a Congressman! You shouldn't be going out with a Congressman!"

"There's no law against it!"

"You're going to leak important White House information to him that he's going to use against us!"

"No I won't! I think I know where the line between my professional life and personal life is, and I definitely know that you are crossing it!"

"If I'm crossing some sort of line that you didn't want me crossing, then why did you tell me about this in the first place?!"

Alex paused. Why did she tell him in the first place? "Why do you care so much?! He's a Democrat! And it's only one date!"

"One date can lead into two dates, two dates can lead into three dates, and three dates can lead into... more stuff."

"Oh that's _soooooo_ articulate of you!" Alex retorted, sarcastically.

"Just shut up! I'm not talking to you anymore!"

"Oh yeah?! Well I wasn't talking to you first!"

"No! I wasn't talking to you first!"

"I wasn't talking to _you_ first!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Alex turned on her heel and stomped back toward the ballroom. She and Josh continued to yell at each other until she had left the west wing.

Donna, who had been lurking in the bullpen, walked up to Josh, shook her head, and said, "Real mature."


	5. Party Time

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: Thank you so much nattieb for the wonderful review! In my story, Zoey and Charlie are still together (because I'm a big CharlieZoey fan). And I officially apologize for this chapter... my sense of humor kicked in, and I have a weird sense of humor.

* * *

Chapter 5 - Party Time

"We can come," Sam and Josh giggled as they stood in Olivia's office doorway.

"What the freak are you two losers talking about?" Olivia was confused, which wasn't exactly a new thing.

"To your party..." Josh explained, still snickering. "We can come to your party."

"What party?"

Josh pulled out a colorful invitation with a clown on the front. He read from the inside of it. "Your birthday party at your mommy's house. Mind you, if there are any real clowns there, I'm leaving, because I hate clowns."

Olivia gasped. Her face began to turn the color of tomato soup. She walked over to Josh and tore the invitation out of his hand. Then she read it over and over again, unable to believe what her cruel mother had done to ruin her life. "How many people do you think got these?!," she whimpered.

Sam turned around and looked out into the hallway. "Oh, I'd say about half of the west wing." He laughed.

"Do you think this is funny?!" Olivia cried, trying to sound tough.

"No." Sam tried to look serious. "It's cute."

"Really?"

"Also extremely funny." Sam dissolved into giggles and was soon joined by Josh.

"All right, why don't you two ignoramuses leave my office until you're ready to behave like adults and stop making fun of my unfortunate luck." Josh and Sam continued to laugh once out in the hallway. Olivia called out to them, "If you keep this up, you two aren't getting cake!"

Olivia called her mother and found out that indeed there would be a birthday party for her that Saturday. In the excitement of the planning, Mrs. Brooke had neglected to tell Olivia about it. With assurances that the party would be everything she wished for, Olivia hung up the telephone. She continued with her work with a cloud hanging over her head.

The next Staff meeting was the one she dreaded most. Olivia knew that she was going to be hounded because of her mother's idiotic plan. She dragged her feet to the Oval Office with her head held low. Once inside the office that was outside of the Oval, she didn't dare look at anything other than the carpet. She could feel the rest of the Senior Staff in there, holding their breath, ready to laugh.

"Oh, Olivia," she heard Charlie say. "I just got off of the phone with your mother. I'll be there on Saturday. I hope you don't mind if I bring Zoey. Your mom didn't mind."

This was it. She was going to have to look up. Olivia smiled halfheartedly at Charlie. "That's fine, Charlie. Glad you're coming."

Olivia turned her head and saw Toby, CJ, Sam, and Josh smirking. Alex ran up to her and flung her arms around her. "I am _so_ sorry for you. I'll be there on Saturday of course, but I am so sorry." Alex stepped away and received a grateful smile from Olivia.

"A birthday party, huh?" Toby exclaimed. "What are you, two?"

"Toby!" Alex scolded.

"Yeah, don't make fun of it. This is going to be fun," CJ said with a teasing note in her voice. "There's going to be karaoke, swimming, food, cake, a piñata. I'm hoping for balloon animals as well."

"Haha... I get it," Olivia replied dully as Leo opened the door to the Oval. The Senior Staff entered and the meeting began.

The meeting was calm and rational. Discussions about various politics were tranquil. Compared to other days, this meeting was boring. Or at least it was boring until the foreign policy bill was brought up. "What's next?," President Bartlet asked.

"The foreign policy bill was passed in the House yesterday, and it goes to the Senate next week," Leo replied. "And it's going to be a lot more difficult to get these people on our side. Any suggestions on how to tackle this problem?"

"You could always just have Alex flirt with the Senators and then take them out and show them a good time," Josh muttered.

"Excuse me?!," Alex cried, defensively. "What are you implying?! That I would sleep with somebody to get a vote?!"

"What _has_ been happening on your dates with Congressman Carnal?"

"His name is Dan and I didn't start dating him to get him to vote 'yea' on the bill!"

"But he did vote 'yea', didn't he?"

"Not because of me! I would never sleep with anyone to get a vote! That's against my morals! I can't believe—"

"That's enough!," the President bellowed. Josh and Alex stopped, terrified. "Perhaps you two have mistaken this meeting as a therapy session where you can hash out your personal differences in front of someone who actually cares. But this is not and no one here does care and no one acts like you two just were in the Oval Office in front of the President of the United States."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." Josh and Alex chorused in unison.

"What's next?," Jed asked, still slightly annoyed. When no one spoke, the President dismissed them all. Josh and Alex retreated to their respective offices, feeling very guilty.

Olivia, still fuming about her mother's rash decision, decided that she would have a nice conversation with her Uncle Leo to see if he could do anything about the situation. She approached Leo and after he finished talking to the President, she inquired, "Uncle Leo, may I talk to you in your office for a little while?"

"Sure," Leo looked concerned. "Is everything all right?" Olivia nodded and she and Leo excused themselves from the Oval Office. They walked into Leo's office through the connecting door. "What's up?"

"Was my mother dropped on her head as a baby?!," Olivia was raging. "Were you the one that dropped her?!"

"Calm down Olivia. What's wrong?"

"She planned me a birthday party! That lunatic planned me a birthday party!"

"I know. I thought it was cute."

"Does she think I'm five?!"

"Nah. She just _wishes_ you were five."

"Uncle Leo!," Olivia whined. "She's ruining my life! I'm a laughing stock!" Olivia plopped into a chair. Leo sat next to her.

"Well kiddo," he said in a compassionate voice, "it's a parent's job to ruin their child's life. I can't help you there."

* * *

Olivia feared Saturday more than anything in her entire life. She knew that her life was going to end in embarrassment. Everyone would laugh at her and she would not be credible anymore. Her doom was coming, and she knew it.

Despite Olivia's fears, the beginning of the party went smoothly. Everyone arrived and didn't laugh right away. They all brought her presents, which was always a good thing. Olivia had forced her mother to let them play her favorite radio station, so good music was actually playing. People were having fun, mingling and eating.

The first catastrophe of the day occurred when Olivia's mother decided to come down and join the party. She was wearing a hot pink sundress with lime green polka dots, a big, yellow straw hat, and enormous sunglasses. She beamed at the party guests as she walked over to Olivia, who at the time was having a conversation with Charlie and Zoey. "Why don't you introduce me to your friends, pumpkin?"

Olivia sighed heavily. "Mom, this is Charlie Young, the President's personal aide, and that's Zoey Bartlet, Charlie's girlfriend and the President's... daughter."

Mrs. Brooke clucked her tongue. "I've met Zoey a few times. My brother is her father's chief of staff you know." She shook hands with them both. They all exchanged pleasantries. "The Secret Service is very good, Zoey, I can't even notice them." She was oblivious to the fact that a large man in a suit and sunglasses was standing right next to Zoey. Charlie and Zoey laughed, but Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Mom. You can meet my other friends and we can get this over with." Olivia groaned as she dragged her mother away.

Alex and Josh stood at the buffet table arguing about something very insignificant. They had given up the not talking to each other thing after the incident in the Oval Office, and now they fought whenever they got a chance and the President wasn't around. "Yeah, well you know what, Josh?!," Alex screamed. "The Weather Channel said that it's going to be eighty-four degrees and partly sunny!"

"News Channel Six said that it was going to be eighty-six degrees and partly cloudy!"

"Who are you going to believe?! The crackpots at some local news station or the National Weather Service?!"

"Don't underestimate the power of the Doppler Radar!"

Olivia, who had pulled her mother over to meet Josh and Alex, cleared her throat. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Olivia, who do you rely on to get the best weather service?," Alex questioned. "The National Weather Service, or the losers at the local news channels who think that they can predict the weather?"

"They know what they're doing!," Josh exclaimed. "They're certified!"

"I'm not getting into the middle of this," Olivia said. "But I'd like you guys to meet my mom, Janice Brooke. Mom, that's Alex Cameron and Josh Lyman."

Josh shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Brooke. Leo's told me all about you."

Alex pushed Josh out of the way. "_Olivia_ has told me all about you. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Oh, it's wonderful to meet both of you. I'm just making the rounds, meeting Olivia's friends. Perhaps I'll see you both later." Mrs. Brooke turned and walked away. Olivia followed. "I didn't want to interrupt. It's best to let lovers sort out their quarrels just as they happen."

"They're not dating. In fact, Alex is dating someone else."

"They're not dating now, but I can see the look of love in their eyes."

"We can all see the look of love in their eyes, Mom. In fact, they're the only ones who can't. I wish they would and end this misery that they put everyone through." They had reached the edge of the pool where Donna and CJ were sitting with their feet in the pool, and Toby and Sam stood, debating something.

"You guys," Olivia called. "Meet my mom. Mom, that's Donna Moss, CJ Cregg, Toby Ziegler, and Sam Seaborn."

After everyone at the party had been introduced to Mrs. Brooke, she insisted that they all go swimming. Of course the only people that ended up going swimming were Olivia, Alex, Donna, Zoey, and Charlie. And Charlie only went swimming because Zoey and Olivia pushed him in. Alex kept splashing Josh, much to his dismay. Once he got smart enough to move away from the pool, Alex grabbed a bucketful of pool water and dumped it over his head. With much coaxing, Olivia managed to get Sam to stick his feet in the water, though he never went completely in.

With the announcement of a piñata, the swimmers exited the pool. Mrs. Brooke made everyone get into a single file line to wait their turn. It was amazing how much the grown, educated adults looked like children at that point. They were all very gleeful and extremely hyper. Olivia went first, though she was unable to break the piñata. Alex went next, followed by Donna, and then Josh. Josh walked around in circles for a minute before swinging the bat. When he did swing the bat, it hit Sam straight in the gut.

"_I'm_ not the piñata Josh!" Sam whispered, breathlessly. Josh took off his blindfold and looked at Sam apologetically, not knowing what to say. Sam had gotten the wind knocked out of him.

"It's okay! I'll take care of him!" Olivia cried. She put Sam's arm around her and helped him to the house. Olivia sat Sam in a chair that was next to the steps into her house. She sat on the steps, facing him. "Are you okay?"

Sam took a deep breath. "I think so."

"Well just relax."

"Nice party."

Olivia sighed. "Thanks. I think so too." She didn't think it was a great party. Her mom planned it. It couldn't be a good party.

"You're lying!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are."

"Fine! Yes I am! I think this party sucks!"

"Whoa... I actually knew you were lying for once." Sam looked very proud of himself. Olivia smiled halfheartedly. "Why don't you like your party?"

"My mom planned it."

"So? Everyone's having fun, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But I'm going to be a laughing stock."

"No you're not. Everyone is going to love you even more for this. You let them all relive their childhoods and have some fun on a Saturday. They could forget their troubles and the country's troubles and be kids again."

Olivia smiled and took Sam's hands in hers. "Oh Sam... you always make me feel better. I love you."

Sam was shocked. "You love me?"

Olivia dropped Sam's hands and suddenly got very awkward. "Yeah... I mean, you're my friend... I love you like... a friend."

"Oh." He looked slightly disappointed.

"Do... do you love me?"

Sam was about to answer the question as Alex walked up. "Josh is giving me a headache," she groaned. "I need to lie down."

"You can use my old room. It's up the stairs, first door on your left." Olivia responded.

"Thanks." Alex went inside.

Sam and Olivia sat in an awkward silence. Finally, Sam answered Olivia's question. "Yes, Olivia, I love you."

"As a friend?"

Sam smirked, stood up, and walked away, leaving Olivia puzzled.

* * *

Alex had closed her eyes and shut the blinds in Olivia's old room. She really didn't have a headache, but she wanted to make it look like she did. She just needed some time to think, not to think about anything in particular, just to think. Alex did think about how Josh always found his way into her thoughts. He did it again just then. Why couldn't she stop thinking about Josh? Why couldn't she ever stop thinking about Josh?

"You okay?" Alex could have sworn she heard Josh's voice. It couldn't be, though. They had just been fighting, he wasn't humane enough to come and check on her. She just thought that she heard his voice because she had been thinking about him. Alex heard floorboards creaking and footsteps walking slowly toward her. It was probably Sam checking on her and she mistook his voice for Josh's. She opened her eyes and looked up. It was Josh.

"You okay?," he asked again. Alex shrugged and put her head back down. Josh sat down on the bed next to her. There was a minute of silence. Alex watched him, trying to anticipate what he was going to do. "I have a question for you," he finally said. "Why do we fight all of the time?"

Alex shrugged again. "Because you're you and I'm me."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Josh laid down.

"It means that I have a big ego and you have a bigger one and they clash... at least that's what I think. If you ask Olivia or Donna they'll tell you that it's due to sexual tension, as they tell me everyday."

"They think we have sexual tension?" Alex nodded. "Do you?"

Alex thought for a minute. "No."

"Really?"

"Really."

Josh leaned over and kissed Alex. She didn't pull away. Sparks were flying. Both of them had wanted that kiss for so long and it finally happened. When Josh pulled away he asked, "What about now?"

"Maybe."

Josh leaned in for another kiss, but Alex quickly sat up and giggled, "I don't give it up that easily, Josh." She stood up and walked into the hallway. Before she could get to the stairs, Josh grabbed her from behind, spun her around, rammed her against the wall, and kissed her again.

When they finally pulled away, they looked at each other and smiled. "I think that we're gonna have to rethink this constant fighting thing."

"Yeah, we're definitely going to need to talk about it."

"Are you free to talk tonight over dinner?"

"No. I've got a date."

Josh stared at Alex in disbelief. "A date?!"

"Well yeah, I've got to break it off with Dan sometime, don't I?" A wave of relief swept over Josh's face. "I think I'll break up with him before appetizers so you know, I might be free for that dinner after all."

"Good."

Alex and Josh crept back downstairs, hoping that no one would notice their absence. They had made it to the downstairs hallway and thought their way was clear when Donna appeared from nowhere. The first thing that she noticed was that their hands were clasped, a fact that neither Josh nor Alex had realized. "Did you two...? Are you two a...?," Donna gasped. "Oh! I'm so happy for you guys!" Donna wrapped Josh into a hug and then Alex. "This is such big news!" She turned on her heel and headed toward the living room where everyone had congregated.

"Donna!," Josh yelled after her but it was too late. Donna had spoken. Everyone knew.

"Well," Alex sighed. "So much for keeping it a secret."

"We could always escape."

"Yeah, but that wouldn't be very nice."

"Fine. Let's just go back in there and get this over with." Alex and Josh unclasped their hands and slowly walked into the living room. Everyone was watching as they entered, and then applauded.

Olivia stood up in mock anger. "I can't believe this! You guys stole my thunder!"

"You can have your thunder back. We don't want it," replied Alex.

Just then, Mrs. Brooke walked into the room. "Oh good, everyone is here. Now... President Bartlet sent me this tape. According to this note that came with it, it was taped when the girls were just fifteen. Olivia was visiting her Uncle Leo who was visiting the Bartlet family. Elizabeth Bartlet had her best friend, Alexandra Cameron, over. The three girls decided to film some comedy skits in the Bartlets' basement. These are those comedy skits."

Alex and Olivia gasped. Their eyes grew wide, and both girls clapped their hands to their mouths. Alex made a break for the door, but Josh grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from doing so. "Mom... um... we don't need to watch those," Olivia said, shakily.

"Of course we do."

"No we really don't!" Alex was hysterical. Everyone in the room shouted their objections to Alex and Olivia's pleas.

Sam reached up from his spot on the couch and pulled Olivia down to sit beside him. "Oh come on, this will be fun."

"Yeah, and if this stuff is any good I can leak it to the press for money," CJ laughed.

"This stuff is hilarious! You guys have got to see it!," Zoey cried.

"Thanks, Zo, you're a real lifesaver." Alex whimpered, sarcastically.

"No problem."

Olivia's mom put the tape in the VCR. "NO!" Alex and Olivia shrieked at once, but it was too late. Mrs. Brooke had pressed play. On the TV appeared the stone walls of a basement. The floor was carpeted. Suddenly, a teenage girl jumped (literally) onscreen. The people in the room recognized her at once as Elizabeth Bartlet, the President's eldest daughter. "Hello people out there in TV land, welcome to my talk show, The World According to Liz. I'm your host Liz Bartlet. On today's show I will be interviewing the stars of the past, present, and future, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

A few seconds later, Liz introduced Lucille Ball. Onto the screen, much to the dismay of Alex, was her fifteen-year-old self. Despite the fact that her face looked slightly younger, she was slightly shorter, and her hair was much longer and frizzier, Alex looked exactly the same as she did now. On the TV she was wearing a bucket on her head, a much too small, old Halloween costume poodle skirt, sweatpants, and large T-shirt. Everyone in the room chuckled, but Alex wailed "Oh God!" She turned around, wrapped her arms around Josh's waist, dug her head into his chest, and whispered those words over and over again.

A minute later, Liz introduced Freddie Mercury. Olivia walked onscreen. The Olivia in the family room covered her eyes with her hands and began to rock back and forth. Sam attempted to pull her hands away again and again. The Olivia onscreen looked much younger, had much shorter hair, and was much shorter. She had grown up a lot since then. Olivia was wearing sunglasses and sun and moon pajamas. Donna noticed something about the outfit that no one else did. "Why is there masking tape on the crotch of your pajama pants?" A muffled snort of laughter could be heard from Alex.

"Don't ask," Olivia groaned.

Throughout the next half hour, Alex and Olivia were tortured to hear themselves on tape. Neither could bare to watch it. The other people in the room enjoyed it immensely. They watched as the teenagers dawned homemade costumes and tried to impersonate famous people. Everyone thought that it was quite funny and laughed a lot. When it was over, Mrs. Brooke stopped it.

"I wonder why the three of you never ended up on Saturday Night Live," Charlie said.

The women came out of hiding to praise from everyone. But soon enough people had to leave. Olivia was left to reflect on her birthday party. All in all it had been a good day. Only two things could have made it better; one: the tape had never been shown, two: she had been as lucky as Alex.


	6. Playing in Paris

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: First of all, I want to thank my friend's boyfriend Chris for the idea for the bill. When I was discussing The West Wing with him, he, who has never seen the show in his life, began to talk about why it should be a bill (I really don't know how his mind works). He managed to convince his girlfriend that it was real, so it was really her reaction I put in. So thanks to them. Secondly, if you don't know how to play Spoons, it's a card game where in the center of the table you place enough spoons for all but one person playing. Then, everyone is dealt four cards, the dealer has the rest of the stack next to him/her. The goal is to get four of a kind. You pass your unwanted cards to the next person, in a circle. There must be four cards in your hand at all times. Once someone gets four of a kind, they grab a spoon from the center. When a spoon is grabbed, everyone else must try to grab a spoon. The person who ends without a spoon loses and gets an S. Each time they lose they get another letter until it spells SPOONS and then they're out. I'm sure there's other variations on the game as well. It's very fast-paced and fun. I suggest you try it. If you didn't understand my instructions, I don't blame you. Search it on google or something, you'll find it. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a little bit more humurous. This is almost done. Three more chapters, unless I decide to put in an epilogue in which case it will be four. Please keep reviewing, I appreciate it.

* * *

Chapter 6 - Playing in Paris 

Josh and Alex's relationship blossomed over the next few months. Everyone around them could tell that they were in love. They were kissing all of the time and spending every free second with one another. In fact, they were together so much that it made some people want to gag, Toby in particular.

Work continued as usual. In October, the President would be taking a trip to Paris, France. The Senior Staff would all be going with him. Alex and Olivia would get to ride on Air Force One for the first time, and both were notably excited about it. Olivia spent the greater part of two weeks asking anyone who would listen questions about the aircraft. It got so bad that many people began avoiding her. Alex even began avoiding her. Sam was the only person in the entire building that would actually listen to and answer her questions about Air Force One.

On the day that they were all leaving, Alex rode in a car with her assistant, Josh, and Donna to Andrews' Air Force Base. She stepped out of the car and looked up to see _the_ Air Force One looming over her. "This is so cool!," she cried. "I'm expecting to see Harrison Ford any minute."

"What are you talking about?," Josh asked. He grabbed Alex's hand and led her toward the plane.

"You've never seen Air Force One?!"

"Yeah, it's right there." He pointed at the plane.

"I meant the movie you dork!" Josh shook his head. "You need to watch it. It's a good movie." They could suddenly hear Olivia talking a mile a minute behind them. "Come on! Let's hurry up! If we don't, we'll be stuck listening to her for the entire plane ride!" Alex started running toward the plane, dragging Josh along with her. Donna and Alex's assistant quickly ensued.

Sam walked alongside Olivia, listening to her ramble on. "Oh my God Sam! Can you believe it?! This is Air Force One! THE Air Force One! I'm looking at it! I'm going to RIDE in it! This is so exciting! I think that my life is complete now! I can die happily now just because I can say that I've flown in Air Force One!"

"That's nice," Sam said. He wasn't listening to Olivia.

"Wow! I mean, this is... wow! I'm such a lucky girl! Sam... what was it like the first time you rode on Air Force One?" Sam didn't answer. "Sam? Sam?! Are you listening to me?!"

"That's nice."

"SAM!!!"

"What?"

"You weren't listening to me."

"Yes I was!"

"Liar! I can tell... remember?"

"You're right. I was tuning you out. I've been listening to you talk about Air Force One all week and it's really annoying. So... I'm sorry."

"I'm not talking to you anymore!" Olivia began to hum to herself.

"Olivia, I'm sorry.... Olivia... Please talk to me." Olivia hummed louder. "All right. Don't talk to me. I guarantee you will be before this flight is over. Because you see, no one else is going to listen to you ramble on and on about Air Force One. Only me. Just wait." Olivia walked ahead of Sam and got on the plane.

* * *

The plane had been in flight for three hours. Alex and Olivia had been given a tour and some M and M's with the Presidential Seal on them. The novelty of the flight had worn off a bit so Olivia sat around going through some paperwork that she had to do. She was stuck on a proposal for a bill that Congresswoman Liberatti had written, and she had asked for White House approval on it. The more she read about it, the more she thought it was a good idea. Since she knew no one but Sam would talk to her, Olivia headed straight for him. He was writing something on his laptop. "Sam?" 

"Told you you'd talk to me before the flight was over."

"Yeah... you know I can't stay mad at you."

"Good. What's up?"

"Well, I've been reading this bill that Liberatti drew up... and I think it's really good."

"What's it propose?"

"To ban people from fishing off of giraffes' backs in the United States."

Sam stared at Olivia in disbelief. "That's not already a law?" He stood up, walked over to Olivia, and began to browse through the folder.

"I guess not. But it really should be. I mean, not only are giraffes endangered, but there are no more wild giraffes left in the United States... they're all in zoos."

"She wanted approval of this bill before bringing it to the house?" Olivia nodded. "I agree. This bill definitely needs to go through. Let's see what Josh thinks, though. If he agrees, then we can take it to Leo." Sam and Olivia went off in search of Josh. They found him walking around all by his lonesome. "Hey. Where's Alex?"

"What? Do you think that because we're dating we have to be together all of the time? We do like to be alone now and then."

"You lost her?"

"Yeah."

"Listen... we have a proposal for you..." Sam and Olivia began to talk to Josh about Liberratti's bill. Josh agreed with Olivia and Sam that this had to be a law. The three of them kept coming up with more and more reasons to put the bill into effect.

"And if you think about it... this law could help stop giraffe poaching," Josh exclaimed as Alex walked over to them.

"What's happening?," she smiled.

"Congresswoman Liberatti wants White House approval for her bill and we're going to take it to Leo," Olivia explained.

"What's the bill for?"

"It's a bill to ban all fishing off of giraffes' backs in the United States. Which is a really great idea, don't you think?" Josh declared happily.

Alex stared at the three smiling idiots for a few moments in shock. Finally, she said, "Um... Josh, do you think I could see that folder?" She took the folder from Josh's hands and whacked him over the head with it. "And they call you one of the greatest political minds this generation?! Sheesh!" Alex shoved the folder back into his hands.

"You don't think it's a good idea then?"

"No. Stupidest thing I've ever heard." She turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"To tell Toby and CJ about this so that we can all laugh at your stupidity together." Alex smiled playfully and left.

"That woman drives me crazy," Josh sighed. "I think that's why I love her." He smiled.

"I still think that this bill is a good idea," Sam said.

"You won't as soon as CJ and Toby get here," Olivia replied. "They are never going to let this go."

CJ marched up to Sam, Olivia, and Josh. "Well, if it isn't our American safari guides!"

"Here we go," muttered Josh.

* * *

It was a full day for Bartlet's Senior Staff. There were meetings, speeches, and luncheons that they all had to attend. Some of the Staffers were distraught to find out that this trip would leave no time for sightseeing, others just became extremely tired, so by the end of the day everyone was in a grouchy mood. That didn't stop Olivia, Sam, CJ, Toby, Donna, and Charlie from meeting in Josh and Alex's hotel room that night. 

Olivia, Donna, CJ, and Alex had all decided to watch a movie. Alex and Donna were lying on their stomachs on the bed, and CJ and Olivia sat on the floor in front of the bed to watch that night's movie: _Moulin Rouge_. The men, not wanting to watch a musical-romantic-chick flick, decided to play a card game. Some of the women pleaded the men to watch, saying that watching the movie would further their emotional education. CJ, on the other hand, just said, "Good riddance!"

As the movie ended, the four women were in tears. "How do you even sit through a movie like that?," Charlie asked.

"You do realize that it's not real, don't you?" Josh laughed.

Alex walked over to Josh, stood behind him, and put her arms around him. "At least I'm not the one who thought that it would be a good idea to ban fishing on the backs of giraffes."

"Did you guys really think that people did that?" Toby inquired.

"There was a lot of research and effort put into it," Sam retorted. "All of the glitz and glamour drew me in."

Olivia walked over to the group. "Whatcha playing?"

"Poker," the men grunted.

"I wanna play!"

"Me too!" Alex squealed.

"Deal me in," CJ stood up and walked over.

Charlie sighed. "I think we have enough people at the table without adding three women, thank you."

"Is it just me or did our Charles sound a tiny bit sexist right there?"

"Are you going to beat him up, CJ, or am I?" Alex asked, playfully.

"I'm not afraid of you two."

"Just deal us in before we hurt you all." Olivia rebutted.

With loud sighs, Sam, who was the dealer, dealt the three women in. "Donna, are you joining us?," Josh called, but Donna had fallen asleep.

Olivia pulled up a chair next to Sam, Alex next to Josh, and CJ next to Charlie. "I'm keeping my eye on you."

"You had all better not yell at us when you're paying us all of your money," Toby said.

An hour later, the guys were all groaning. "Why are you three demanding money from us?! We weren't even playing for money!" Josh pleaded.

"Yes we were, smartass. Now pay up before I vow not to have sex with you for a month." Alex responded. Josh quickly began to hand over his money to all three women, who had won spectacularly.

"I didn't even want you to play in the first place," Charlie claimed. "So I don't think that I owe you money."

"I'm not listening," CJ sang. "I'm too busy counting your money that now belongs to me."

"Talk about gracious winners," Toby muttered, sarcastically.

"We're only doing what you guys would have done," Olivia laughed. "Sam... hand over my money."

"How about one more game?" Sam asked.

"NO!" Everyone said at once.

"Just thought I'd ask."

Olivia gasped. "We should play Spoons!"

"I LOVE that game!" Alex cried.

"What's Spoons?" Everyone else questioned. Olivia and Alex went into a full-blown explanation, and soon enough, the seven White House Staffers were playing Spoons.

"Wow. This is a really cool game. I think I'm gonna be good at it," Josh exclaimed just before starting the second round. By the time the ninth round was beginning, Josh was out. He paced the room, cursing and yelling about what a stupid game Spoons was. His yelling woke Donna, who then joined the others to play. Sam was the next out after Josh, followed by Toby and then Charlie. The men were all acting in the same angry manner while the women, when they were called out, watched the following matches. Alex was the first woman out, she was followed by CJ, and then Donna. Olivia won the Spoons tournament.

"That's not fair. You're an expert Spoons player. I think that you should be disqualified," Sam remarked to Olivia.

"Shut up you loser! Haven't you heard of beginner's luck? You apparently don't have it. Just like everyone else here."

"All right, that's it," Josh cried. "Everyone out of my hotel room, especially Miss I-Always-Win-And-Like-To-Gloat over there."

"_Your_ hotel room?" Alex asked.

"_Our_ hotel room," he sighed.

"Much better."

With some reluctance, everyone retreated back to their own hotel rooms to get some sleep before resuming their hectic schedule the next morning.

* * *

The trip to France was a busy one. It was full of politics, ceremonies, and many other things. Alex had been hoping to spend some time with Josh, seeing as it was their first vacation together. A lot of things got in the way, though. Anytime that they had some free time, Josh always seemed to come up with an important emergency meeting, and he cancelled any meal that they had planned together. The only time Alex really got to see Josh was at night, and by then he either wanted to spend time with the guys or go to sleep. 

While the schedule didn't leave any room for sightseeing, many of the Staffers got away once and a while. Olivia dragged Sam to several art museums during their stay, Alex and Donna went on a whirlwind pastry tasting tour, and Alex, Olivia, Donna, CJ, Sam, and Josh all made a quick trip to the Eiffel Tower. Somehow, they all managed to get their jobs done, and the trip was altogether successful.

The flight home on Air Force One was a relatively somber one. Those who weren't asleep were busy getting ready to go back to their jobs in America. Josh and Alex had some random fight and were now avoiding each other, though both knew they would be talking by the time they arrived back in DC. Olivia had tried to have a pleasant conversation with Sam, but he snapped at her, saying that she was disturbing him while he tried to write a speech the President would have to make. And so, while the trip to Paris was fun, it ended on a bad note.


	7. Batter Up

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: Thanks again to nattieb for the review- yeah I was in a really random mood when I wrote that last chapter. I've had this idea about Josh and Toby watching a Yankees/Mets game for a long time so I decided to put it in. I'm sorry to any Mets fans, I'm a Yankees fan myself and that might become evident.

* * *

Chapter 7 - Batter Up

Josh and Alex sat in bed a few days after returning from France, eating breakfast. Alex had turned on the movie _Beauty and the Beast_, and was watching it. Josh was reading the paper. "Put down that damn paper and watch the movie with me!"

"That's okay." Josh laughed. "It still perplexes me that you're even watching a Disney movie and you're a grown adult with no kids."

Alex shrugged. "Beauty and the Beast is a classic. It's the only animated ever to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar."

"Your inane knowledge of movie trivia can rival the President's inane knowledge of trivia about... everything else."

"Thank you!" Alex smiled.

Josh smiled too. He then turned and looked at the clock. "I gotta get ready." He got up and started getting dressed.

"For what?"

"The Yankees-Mets game is on and Toby and I are going to watch it in his office."

"Is that a really good idea? I mean, you two are liable to kill each other." Josh laughed. "Besides, it's a Saturday, and I thought that we were going to spend the day together."

"We can... after the game."

"And if it goes into extra innings?"

"It's an afternoon game... we'll still have time for dinner."

Alex stood up. "I'm coming too."

"Why?"

"You think a girl can't enjoy baseball?"

"Why don't you and Donna just go and see a movie or something?"

"So now you're trying to get rid of me?!" Alex became very defensive.

"I didn't say that Alex."

"But you meant it."

"Don't put words in my mouth. I'll say it if I mean it."

"Then why don't you want me to come?!"

"I thought that you'd have a better time seeing a movie with Donna than watching a baseball game with two die-hard fanatics."

"Sure," Alex said skeptically.

"Now you're pissed at me?! Why the hell are you pissed at me?!"

"Because you don't want to spend time with me."

"I never said that!"

"But you meant it!"

Josh began to scream. "Well if you're gonna act like this about nothing then maybe I don't want to spend time with you!" Alex gave Josh a dirty look and stormed into the bathroom. He rolled his eyes and walked out to his car.

* * *

Sam walked into the west wing on that Saturday, ready to work. Since it was a weekend, he was dressed in what he liked to call his "casual work gear", basically a sweater and jeans. He decided that before he went to work, he'd take a walk around the west wing. Sam liked to do that now and then. The quiet hallways helped him clear his mind.

As Sam walked by Olivia's office, he noticed movement inside. He looked inside and found Olivia working on her computer. Sam knocked on the open door, and Olivia looked up and smiled. "Hey," Sam grinned. "You're working today, too?"

"Yeah. I needed to finish up some paperwork and crap. And I thought that maybe I could be ahead of the curve for Monday."

"You're turning into me."

"Thank you."

"That's not a good thing." They both laughed. After the laughter, there was a moment of awkward silence. "All right, well I guess I should go and do my work now. Maybe I'll see you later?"

"I'd like that."

"Me too." Sam left Olivia's office, smiling, and headed to the empty Communications bullpen.

* * *

"Are you blind?! ARE YOU BLIND?! Did you not see Jeter trying to steal?!," Josh yelled at the TV in Toby's office.

"He probably is blind. He _is_ a Met," Toby snickered.

"Once Piazza is at bat you'll be sorry. He'll hit a grand slam and prove that the Mets are superior to the Yankees."

"What universe are you living in? One: no team is superior to the Yankees, two: are you talking about the Piazza that struck out his first at bat, and hit a pop-fly his second?"

"He's having an off-day," Josh muttered.

It was the top of the ninth inning and the Yankees were at Shea Stadium. It was a tie score of four to four. Josh and Toby sat on the edge of their seats as Hideki Matsui was struck out and the game went into the bottom of the ninth. "Why couldn't he just hit the ball?!" Toby bellowed.

"Because the Yankees suck, my friend," Josh chuckled.

"You misspoke there, Josh, because I think what you meant was that the Mets suck."

"At least the Mets—"

"Oh, will you two just shut up?! It's only a game!," Alex suddenly cried. She had been sitting, very bored, at Toby's computer, playing solitaire.

"No one asked you to come!," retorted Josh.

"Forgive me for thinking I'd have fun hanging out with my boyfriend and that he just might pay attention to me."

"You're free to leave."

"Could you take your fight outside please?," Toby sighed. "I'm in the middle of watching the game."

"It's a commercial."

"I still don't want to listen to the two of you."

Josh and Alex both huffed and sat in silence. The game came back on, and Josh and Toby immediately got back into it. The half-inning was full of excitement. By the end, the Mets had the bases loaded, two outs, and Mike Piazza was up with a full-count. "This is it! He's going to do it! He's going to hit the grand slam!"

"Strike him out Rivera! Strike him out!" Toby screamed.

Suddenly, the power went out. Lights, computers, and TVs stopped working. "WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!" Toby and Josh shouted at once. Alex chuckled to herself.

"You think this is funny?!," Josh yelled at her. "You think that my agony is funny?!"

"Yes."

"Just get a God damn radio in here!" Toby roared.

"I think there's one in my office!" Josh ran toward the door, but his leg caught on the side of the couch and he fell, face first, to the floor. Alex howled with laughter. Josh just got up and went to his office to search for the radio.

* * *

Sam tried to focus on his work, but he couldn't. It wasn't because of all the yelling next door. He was used to being next to Toby's office and could just tune the screaming out. The reason he couldn't concentrate was because his thoughts kept drifting elsewhere. He stared at his computer screen, which was now black due to the power outage. Even before, there hadn't been a word written on it. Sam sighed, stood up, and walked toward the source of his troubles.

He knocked on the door to the office, and Olivia beckoned him in. Sam sat in the chair across from her and they stared at each other for a minute. "What's up?," Olivia finally asked.

"I couldn't concentrate."

"Why?"

"Because... there's a lot of yelling next door. Josh, Toby, and Alex are watching the game."

"How can they be watching it? The power is out."

"Well now they're yelling about how the power outage is preventing them from watching the game."

Olivia laughed. "You're not watching the game with them?"

"Nah. I'm more of a Angels fan myself."

"That could cause a problem."

"Why?"

"I don't know if I could share an office with someone who doesn't like the Yankees."

"First of all, I didn't say that I didn't like the Yankees, I just prefer the Angels. Second of all, we're sharing an office?"

"Well, I figured that that was why you came here... so you could set up camp here for a little while."

"Oh... yeah... sure." Olivia smiled at Sam and she set back to work. Sam tried to go back to work but he couldn't. He found himself staring at Olivia as she worked. He loved everything about her, the way she held her pen, the way her hair fell onto the paper as she worked, and even the way her eyes moved along the paper. If Sam didn't tell her that instant, he would burst. "Olivia... I need to tell you something."

"What?" Sam stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk, summoning up his courage. "Sam... are you okay?" Olivia stood up, facing Sam.

"I lied before... about why I came here. The game wasn't the reason that I couldn't concentrate."

"Then why couldn't you..." Olivia trailed off. She saw the way that Sam was looking at her. It was her. He couldn't concentrate because of her. Before she knew it, Sam had kissed her and she kissed back. After a few seconds, Olivia pulled away. "Damn it!"

Sam jumped away, afraid he had offended her. "What?!"

"Why don't I have a couch in here?!" She laughed and so did Sam. They kissed again, both in complete bliss.

* * *

Back in Toby's office, the radio had been set up. Mike hadn't hit the homerun that Josh thought he would, instead he was struck out. The game was now in the bottom of the eleventh, Yankees were up six to five. There were two outs and two on base. "Just hit a God damn homerun! It's not THAT hard!" Josh was screaming.

"Apparently it is hard for the Mets." Toby laughed.

They listened to the announcer. "And the pitch... he hits a line drive to center field... Bernie Williams catches it! The game is over! THEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!"

"Haha! And the Yankees have proved themselves superior yet again!"

Josh sat on the couch with his head in his hands. "Why couldn't he hit a homerun?! How hard can that be?!" He sighed. "I have to go home and sulk over this alone."

Alex stood up. "Josh, I need to talk to you for a second," she said in a rather high-pitched voice. Alex grabbed Josh's arm and pulled him into Sam's empty, dark office. As soon as she had shut the door, she turned on Josh. "I thought we were going to go out for dinner!"

"That was before the Mets lost."

"So?"

"I need time to mope."

"Mope over dinner!"

"Why the hell do you care about dinner so much?!"

"Because this is the second promise you've broken today! You said you were going to spend the day with me and instead you watched the game with Toby, and then you said we were going to go out for dinner but instead you want to pout like a little kid! Josh, I have been doing so much to be with you and you're doing nothing! I even sat here and watched baseball to be with you!"

"I didn't even want you to come in the first place! You were being annoying and distracting the entire time! And since when are you the only one who does anything in this relationship?! Whenever I ask you if you wanna do something, you're always going off to do something with Olivia or Donna or CJ!"

"That is not true!"

"Yes it is and you know it!"

"Don't go blaming this all on me! You're just as bad!"

"At least I don't go around annoying you when you're trying to have fun or work!"

"You know what?! I can't stand you! Why the hell did I ever start dating you in the first place?! I wouldn't care if I never saw you again!"

"Fine by me! Have a nice life!"

Alex and Josh gave each other dirty looks before she stormed out of the office and out of the west wing. A few seconds later, Toby walked into Sam's office with concern on his face. "What was that all about?"

"We just broke up."

"Oh." Toby paused. "Do you want to go get a drink or... something?"

"No. I'm just gonna go... home." Josh marched out of the west wing in anger just as Olivia and Sam walked to Sam's office. Sam had his arm wrapped around Olivia. They found Toby standing outside of Sam's office, watching Josh stride away.

"What happened?," Sam asked.

"Josh and Alex broke up."

Sam and Olivia stood in shock. "Alex has got to be devastated," Olivia gasped. "I should call her."

"I'd wait. They're both angry." There were a few moments of silence.

"Toby, guess what," Sam said eagerly.

"Do I care?"

"Probably not. Olivia and I are dating." They both smiled brightly.

"Oh dear God," Toby turned, went into his office, and shut the door. Sam and Olivia looked at each other and shrugged.


	8. A Killer Experience

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: Thanks again for the review nattieb (of course the Yanks were going to win... they rock!). Anyway... one more chapter left after this one! YAY! Unless I decide to put in an epilogue... and that will all depend on my mood and what you guys think.

* * *

Chapter 8 - A Killer Experience

When Sam and Olivia started dating, they were both happier than they had ever been in their entire lives. Over the next week, it had become quite apparent to everyone in the west wing that they were dating. Most were happy to see it. This time, Toby decided to take the not caring approach. Alex tried her best to look happy for the two, though it always came out looking halfhearted. Josh was just very angry at them for being happy.

Josh and Alex now avoided each other at all costs. When they were forced to be in the same room, they ignored each other's presence. No one really cared though. At least they weren't fighting.

One day as Josh walked into Sam's office to discuss a speech with him, he found Olivia and Sam kissing on his couch. Josh groaned loudly and turned to leave. "No wait, Josh, come back!" Sam called. Josh turned back and Olivia went to leave, but not before giving Sam a LONG kiss. Josh rolled his eyes. After Olivia had left, Sam said to Josh, "I want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Well... recently you seem mad at me."

"I don't know why you'd think that, I'm not mad."

"Okay, good. You're just jealous then."

"Jealous?"

"Yeah. Olivia and I are so happy and your relationship with Alex ended so badly."

"This has nothing to do with jealousy or you and Olivia or... Alex."

"What is it then?"

"Nothing. There's nothing wrong!"

"Then why have you been acting so hostile towards me?"

"I have not been—"

"SAM!!!," they could hear Leo yell from down the hall.

"Uh oh, someone's in trouble," Josh giggled as Leo blew into the office.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"That's usually what he says to me—"

"Be quiet Josh! Sam... what the hell are you doing?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Leo," Sam said. Although, he saw Olivia cowering in the doorway and got a pretty good idea what was happening. Olivia had told Leo about their relationship.

"You two are DATING?! I can't believe this! First my daughter and now my niece! Are you just trying to ruin my life?!"

"No... I would never try to ruin your life..."

"Wait a minute," Olivia said slowly. "You dated Mallory?"

"Yes he did," Leo responded.

"Only like one time!" Sam cried.

"Are you the one that slept with a hooker and then never called her?!"

"She was a call girl!"

"Oh my God!" Olivia ran out of Sam's office.

"Olivia!" Sam called after her. He was about to run after her when he was stopped by Leo.

"Listen to me Sam, if you do anything to hurt anyone in my family again.... I will be forced to hurt _you_."

"Okay." Sam broke free of Leo's grasp and ran to Olivia's office where she had penned herself up. He knocked on the door repeatedly. "Olivia! Olivia please let me in! I'm sorry!" After a few minutes of pleading she opened up. Her eyes were puffy and red.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well... this relationship is still kind of new. I didn't want to bring up the fact that I accidentally slept with a call girl because I regret it. I didn't know that she was a call girl when I slept with her. And about your cousin... we only went on like one official date, and we only kissed once. And I thought that she had told you about us. So I'm sorry. I really mean it. Forgive me?"

Olivia sighed. "You know I can't stay mad at you. I just wish you had told me." Sam hugged her. "You know, I think that this was the corniest fight I've ever had."

"I think it was mine too. Let's just hope all of our fights are like this." Olivia giggled.

* * *

Alex and Olivia met Donna outside of Josh's office. Alex groaned, "_It_ wanted to see us."

Donna smiled. "Still not using Josh's name huh?" Alex shook her head. "Yeah he did want to see you guys. He's in his office, you can go in."

As Alex and Olivia walked toward Josh's door, Olivia grabbed Alex's arm and whispered, "What do you think he's gonna do to us? I mean, this meeting can't be anything good. He hasn't talked to you since you split up, and he's been mad at me since Sam and I started dating."

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

"Haha... that was funny."

"Thanks." They walked into Josh's office to find him sitting at his computer.

He looked up, completely ignored Alex, but gave Olivia a grim smile. "Sit," he ordered. They sat in front of his desk. A few seconds later, he rolled his chair back so that he was facing them. "I'm sending you two to Evastad."

"Why?," they asked at once.

"The Evastadian Foreign Minister has some peace proposals that he wants the US to approve. You two are going to go meet with him, and bring the better proposals back to the President."

"Why can't the Evastadian Foreign Minister come here?" Alex inquired, still acting very stiffly toward Josh.

Josh had a tint of annoyance in his voice. "Because that country is unstable right now. They don't want any of the important people leaving there." Alex began to think, and her anger started brewing.

"You want us to talk about peace plans? Why not send someone more qualified? Like yourself or Toby or Leo?," Olivia questioned.

"Because we all have important things that we need to be doing."

"Suddenly you don't think that our jobs are important?!," Alex cried. "You're sending us to one of the most politically unstable countries in the entire world! We could very likely be killed while we're over there! Have you realized that?! Probably not! You know, I can understand why you hate me, but what about Olivia?! Just because she and Sam are happy and you and I are not is no reason for you to take out her anger on her!"

"I chose you two to go because you're smart! And those people over there like to see women in power!"

"No they don't!" Olivia wailed. "It's Eastern Europe! They're all Conservative to the point where they border fascism! They will hate us!"

"Trust me. You two will be fine. They'll protect you. You leave tomorrow morning for the capitol of Shrilka—"

"Go to hell!" Alex yelled, running out of the office.

"Jackass!" Olivia added. She then followed Alex. Josh sat and pondered, rubbing his eyes with his hands.

* * *

"Are you guys going to go?" Sam asked Olivia over their romantic, candlelit dinner that night.

"We have to. If we don't go, we'll lose our jobs. And besides... we could be a major contributor to the peace process over there. Personally, I'm looking forward to helping."

"Good," Sam smiled. "I told Josh you'd come around."

"You what?"

"When Josh was picking people to go I said that you'd be angry at first, but then you'd come around."

Olivia was stunned beyond belief. "You volunteered me to go?"

"Well, not so much volunteered you as I came up with the idea that you should go."

"Why?!"

"You're one of the brilliant political minds of this generation."

"So are you! Why aren't you going?!"

"I don't do peace proposals."

"Neither do I, yet I'm going!"

"Yeah, but you can adapt, I can't"

"You do realize that I could very well be killed there don't you?!"

"It's highly unlikely."

"Why are you taking Josh's side with this?"

"I'm not... I wasn't—"

"Just forget it Sam! I'll see you when I get back," Olivia mumbled. She ran out of the restaurant, leaving Sam alone, debating whether or not to go after her.

* * *

Alex reflected on the trip to Evastad as she sat in her first-class seat on the plane back to DC. She thought that all in all it had gone pretty well. They had a couple new peace plans to bring back to the President and Leo. They hadn't been killed, which was always a good thing. Olivia was dozing off next to Alex. The plane had been in the air for almost an hour, and Olivia was finally almost asleep. She kept thinking that the plane that they were on wasn't nearly as cool as Air Force One.

Suddenly, four men came running past them from coach. They ran into the cockpit. Alex, who felt rather uneasy, nudged Olivia awake. "Olivia... were those male stewardesses?"

"I don't know," Olivia answered groggily.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Don't worry. It's probably nothing."

A struggle could be heard from the cockpit. There were a lot of thuds and a lot of men's screams. Without warning, there was a loud bang which was unmistakably a gunshot. Several people on the plane screamed. "Okay. I think something is wrong," Olivia said in a high-pitched voice.

Over the PA system came the voice of a man with a thick Evastadian accent. He had an amused tone to his voice. "Hello ladies and gentlemen. This is your co-pilot speaking. I'm afraid that our pilot has been killed. Most unfortunate. So now my friends are going to help me fly the plane. If the government answers our demands then you all have no need to worry. But if they don't," he chuckled to himself, "well let's not talk about it just yet." It cut off.

"Oh God!," Olivia cried. "We've been hijacked. Oh God, oh God, oh God!" There were tears running down her face. She had gone extremely pale and was shaking all over.

Alex was looking the exact same way. She couldn't will herself to say anything, though. Alex reached for her purse, fished through it, pulled out her cell phone, and dialed the first number that popped into her head.

* * *

Josh sat at his desk going through some paperwork when his cell phone rang. He found it weird that he didn't shut it off, because he usually did when he was in the White House. Either that or he would get no signal. He sighed and looked at the caller ID. It was Alex's cell. Josh debated whether or not to answer it, but finally did because the ring was annoying him. "What?"

Alex's voice was panicked. "Josh! Our plane has been hijacked!"

"What kind of sick joke is this?!"

"I'm serious! Four men ran up to the cockpit, there was some sort of fight, then there was a gunshot, and then the co-pilot came on saying that they had killed the pilot and that they were going to do something to us if the government didn't answer their demands." Josh was shocked and couldn't say anything. "Josh?"

"Oh God!," he managed to whisper. "Hang on!" Josh got up and started to run as fast as his legs could take him to the Oval Office. He ran into the office just outside it to find Charlie at his desk. "Where's the President?! I have to speak to him now!"

"You just missed him. He and Leo were called to the Situation Room."

"Do you know why?!"

"No. What's wrong?"

Josh spoke to Alex again. "It's gonna be okay! The President and Leo have been called to the Sit Room, they've gotta know something. They'll take care of it."

"Josh... I'm so scared."

"I know. But just hang on. Everything is going to be fine. I promise." The connection was cut off.

"What's going on?," Charlie asked. He was starting to get freaked out.

Sam ran into the room. "Where's the President?! Where's Leo?! I need to talk to them!" He went on a beeline to the Oval Office.

Josh grabbed Sam to stop him. "They're in the Sit Room. How'd you find out?"

Sam snatched the remote to the TV that was in the office and turned it to CNN. On the TV, the reporter was talking about the limited information he knew about the hijacking. "Olivia gave me the information about the flight before she left," Sam murmured. "They're on that flight, Josh. They could die! We might never see them again."

"It's going to turn out okay. Everything's going to be fine. They're not going to die."

"But you don't know that!"

"You've got to stay thinking positive, Sam. It's the only way we're going to get through this!"

Sam was choking back tears. "We had a fight before she left. That might have been the last time I will ever talk to her and it was a fight. I never even told her I love her. And I do. With every fiber of my being. I wanted to wait for the right moment to tell her, but now it's too late." Josh, not knowing what to say, gave Sam a hug.

Sam's cell phone rang, and he pushed Josh away to answer it. "Hello?," he said hopefully.

"Sam?," came Olivia's voice from the other end. Josh, wanting to give Sam some private time on his phone call, started to tell Charlie everything he knew.

"Olivia! Oh my God, are you all right?!"

"I'm unbelievably frustrated. I've been trying for so long to get a hold of you, but I'm using one of those stupid airplane phones and I had to go through like ten different operators just to call you." Sam laughed to himself. "I'm also scared out of my mind."

"You don't sound it."

"I'm trying to think about other things!" Olivia sounded on the verge of insanity.

"Have they hurt you? Or anyone else?"

"Just the pilot."

Sam paused. For some reason this felt like the last time he would be talking to her. He needed to say it, he just needed to. While summoning up the courage to actually say those three words, he didn't notice CJ and Toby walk into the room. Josh signaled for them to be quiet as he listened to what Sam was going to do.

"Olivia..." Sam whispered. "I love you."

There was a pause. "I love you too." Tears filled her voice.

From behind Olivia, Sam could hear a voice with an Evastadian accent say, "Everyone off of the phones NOW!"

"Gotta go!" The connection was cut off. Everyone in the office sat in silence.

"They're on that plane?," CJ asked with a dry throat. Josh and Sam solemnly nodded. Toby's breathing faltered. CJ, her legs unable to support her, sunk into a chair.

* * *

"We have to do something!"

"Like what?!" Olivia cried skeptically.

"I don't know. But we're diplomats. We should negotiate with them or something."

"Don't you remember that saying? 'We never negotiate with terrorists.'"

"Oh yeah." Alex thought deeply. "Well, we could talk to them. Try to convince them that it's a bad idea and that they shouldn't kill us all. We can't just sit around and do nothing."

Olivia paused to think. "Fine!," she groaned. "But we should get some help."

The two women stood up, checked to make sure that none of the hijackers were around, and then faced the rest of the plane, filled with petrified passengers. "Um..." Alex cleared her throat. "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen. My friend and I work for the US government and we were thinking that maybe we should go up there and talk to them. You know, try to talk them out of killing us. Um... any help would be greatly appreciated." A few moments later, three men walked up. "Thanks." Alex tried to smile encouragingly.

They all walked up to the door of the cockpit. They stood there for a minute until Olivia knocked on the door. "Um.. excuse me... we'd just like to talk to you for a sec—" The door burst open and a man holding a gun stood there. Without blinking, he fired two shots, both hitting Olivia's stomach. Alex looked over and saw blood gushing out. Olivia fell backwards and the man behind her caught her and carried her back to some of the seats.

Alex tried her best to hold back the tears. "We just wanted to talk to you about alternatives to killing—" There was another loud shot, and suddenly a blazing pain was shooting through her left shoulder. Alex howled in pain and doubled over. It was so bad that she couldn't see anything, but she did hear two more shots and a door slam shut.

She gasped in a few breaths before she could finally see. Alex saw that the two men who had stayed with her were both shot, one through the chest, the other through the head. They were both dead. Tears started to roll down her cheeks involuntarily. It was a horrible sight, one that she had to stop looking at.

Alex hobbled back to the first class section. She saw that the man who had dragged Olivia back was talking to the other men on the plane. "Olivia!," she shrieked as she saw her friend, unconscious, lying across their seats. Olivia was becoming whiter and whiter by the second. Two women were with her. One was a tall, pale, blonde woman who was wearing a stewardess outfit. The other was another passenger who was short and obviously Italian. "Is she okay?!"

"She has just been shot, do you think she is okay?!," the stewardess screamed in an Evastadian accent. She gasped, looking at Alex's shoulder. "You have been shot same. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I am... Better than her. Can you please tell everyone onboard that it's okay and that they shouldn't panic?" The stewardess nodded and headed to work.

The Italian woman looked up and smiled wearily. "Don't worry, I'm a nurse," she said in a squeaky voice with an American accent. Upon closer inspection, Alex saw that the nurse was pressing an airplane blanket onto Olivia's wound to help stop the blood.

"Is she going to live?"

"I don't know," the nurse whispered. She looked up and saw Alex's arm. "We've got to help you."

"I'm fine."

"Can you move your arm?" Alex tried to lift her left arm. The pain, which had been throbbing, became piercing. She screamed. "See? I expect Helga will be going to get a blanket to help with your arm."

"Helga?"

"That stewardess."

"Oh." Alex found her purse and dug for her cell phone, this time with one hand. "I have to make a call." Alex quickly dialed.

* * *

Leo, Sam, Josh, CJ, and Toby sat in the Oval Office in complete silence. Leo was staring off into space and shaking, Sam was staring at the floor and having trouble holding back tears, Josh kept moving and trying to keep himself busy, CJ was hyperventilating, and Toby was imagining worst case scenarios. "There's really nothing we can give them?," Josh asked, almost beside himself.

Leo shook his head. "No. We don't negotiate with terrorists. And besides... they want the Evastadian government to release the known leaders of that terrorist group that blew up the embassy a few months ago, the Bloody Seraphs. We can't do anything about that."

"We can influence them to do it—"

"Josh! We _don't_ negotiate with terrorists! I know this is hard for you all, but think about me! I've known Olivia since she was born and I don't know if she's hurt or dead or going to die or—"

"Stop it, Leo!" Sam yelled, harshly. Everyone was quiet again.

The President came in from the Residence. Everyone stood up when he walked in but he motioned for them to sit. "I found it. That picture I was talking about of Alex and Liz at graduation." He passed around a picture of a young Alex and Liz Bartlet hugging in green graduation robes. Jed sat down. "I can't believe it. That girl practically lived at my house from the time she was thirteen until she went to college. I saw her everyday and it annoyed the crap out of me. I never thought that one day she'd be serving her country like this." He looked to Leo. "But I can't even imagine what it's like for you, Leo."

Josh's cell phone rang. Everyone looked hopefully to Josh. He stood up and started pacing the room as he answered it. "Alex?!"

"So we decided that we were going to try to talk them out of this."

"Are you crazy?!"

"We're desperate! So we went up there to talk to them and they shot Olivia twice in the stomach and they shot me in the shoulder."

Josh was momentarily paralyzed, his mouth hanging open. "Are... are you guys okay?"

"I am. I've never been in this much pain before and I can't look at my shoulder for fear that I'll pass out from seeing all of the blood, but I'm fine. But Olivia... oh God, Josh... she's unconscious and there's this nurse who's taking care of her who says that she doesn't know if she's going to live. Olivia is as white as a piece of paper. I think she's going to die. And I was the one who convinced her to go up there. It was all me." Alex began to sob.

"No... calm down. It's all going to be okay."

Josh could hear another woman's voice in the background, this one had an Evastadian accent. "I will fix your arm, yes?"

"Who's that?"

"Helga the stewardess," Alex answered. "She's wrapping up my arm in an airplane blanket." She began to scream and curse in pain, so badly that Josh had to hold the phone away from his ear. Those in the Oval Office could hear the yelling.

"What the hell is happening to them?!" CJ was freaking out.

"They're just wrapping up Alex's shoulder. She was shot."

"Oh God! Is she all right?"

"She says she is, but you know Alex... incredibly stubborn."

"I heard that Joshua Lyman!," Alex teased.

"I know that. Why do you think I said it into the phone?" Josh could hear people running and screaming in the background.

"Oh God!," Alex cried.

There was shouting, some from Alex and some from a man using a different language: Evastadian. They were obviously brawling over something. The man's voice was suddenly talking to Josh. "Say goodbye to your friend!" There was a gunshot and then the phone went dead.


	9. Love

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the final chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I have decided that I _will_ write an epilogue but that won't be up for a few days. Many thanks once again to nattieb and kursk... my faithful reviewers. This chapter does begin to get a little corny and I apologize for that.

* * *

Chapter 9 - Love

Josh couldn't move. He couldn't comprehend anything going on around him. He felt his cell phone fall out of his hands, but that was it. Before he knew it, he felt hands grabbing him, making him walk to one of the sofas, and then making him sit. Voices were talking to him, but they were inaudible.

Finally, Josh heard the President's voice over the others. "Josh... can you hear me? What happened?"

"They just killed Alex," he whispered. Everyone was taken aback.

"Are you sure?" Leo asked.

"One of them got on the phone and told me to say goodbye and then there was a gunshot and then I got cut off." Josh buried his head in his hands. He was distraught. She couldn't be dead, she had been there arguing with him two days ago. He had just been talking to her on the phone. Josh felt as if his own life was about to end.

Everyone else in the room was in dismay as well. The President began to pace around the room, remembering Alex as a teenager. Toby stood still, shocked. He had his arm around CJ who was crying silently into his shoulder. Leo was flabbergasted. Sam was sad for Alex, but still couldn't stop thinking about Olivia. "What about Olivia?"

Josh sighed and told them everything that Alex had said in their conversation. When it was over, Sam couldn't breathe. Fear overtook him. The only thing that mattered to him then was Olivia's life. Josh, on the other hand, was consumed with guilt. "I did it. I killed them. I killed Alex. I sent them there because I was mad at them. God, I'm so stupid! Thanks to me, she's dead!"

"It's not your fault," Toby said.

"Yes it is."

"No it's not. We all agreed that they should go. No one can take more blame than another."

The Oval Office was silent for several minutes. At long last, Charlie came in. "Mr. President, Leo, they need you in the Situation Room." The President and Leo left.

Charlie had sounded completely fine. Josh thought, _How can he be okay? Doesn't he realize that Alex just died? _The one woman he cared about more than any other was gone, and it was all his fault. Josh couldn't lie anymore. He loved her, he always had, and he always would. Now he would never see that smiling face or hear her teasing voice or feel her soft skin ever again. She was gone.

Sam didn't know what to do with himself. The love of his life was dying and there was nothing he could do to help. He wanted to be there right then, to comfort her. If there was one thing that he could have done, he would have taken those bullets for her. Then he could suffer through the pain and she wouldn't have to. The only thing that Sam could think to do was pray. And he did.

After what seemed an eternity to the four remaining in the Oval Office, the President and Leo returned. "We've got some good news," the President said gravely. "Somehow, some passengers have gotten control of the plane and made a rather bumpy, emergency landing on some farm in Germany. The hijackers have been taken into custody, and the dead and wounded are being airlifted to Ramstein Air Base. The rest are being bused there. Six people were killed. Nine people injured."

"Any news about Olivia?," Sam eagerly inquired.

"No," Leo replied. "But we've been thinking... Josh, Sam, perhaps you'd like to go to Ramstein and keep watch over Olivia and... Alex's flight home." They both nodded sadly. After a few seconds, Leo cried, "Well what are you waiting for?! Go!" Josh and Sam made a run for it.

* * *

The flight to Germany was excruciating. Sam and Josh were forced to sit still. Neither of them could focus on the work they had brought. Both were anxious about Olivia, especially Sam. Josh kept hearing Alex's voice in his head, replaying all of the conversations that they had ever had. He tried to get it out but it wouldn't go away. Sam kept seeing a smiling Olivia in front of him. No matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, the vision wouldn't go away. The only time that they talked during the trip was when Josh said, "We both need some sleep." Sam smiled. Both knew that they would get none.

* * *

Josh and Sam sat in the lobby of the hospital at Ramstein Air Base. The receptionist told them that a woman named Dr. Pfeffer would be out shortly to talk to them. All of their inquiries to the receptionist failed. Josh turned to Sam. "Do you know how to speak German? Because I don't have a clue."

"Josh... this is an American Air Force Base. They speak English here, not German."

"You can think whatever you'd like. But when they end up speaking German, don't come crying to me about it."

"Mr. Lyman? Mr. Seaborn?," came a woman's voice. She had an American accent.

Sam laughed. "Told you."

"What?," the woman asked.

"Nothing," Josh said. "You must be Dr. Pfeffer." They both stood up and shook hands with the short, red-headed, freckled doctor.

"You were asking about Olivia Brooke?" They nodded. "She just finished surgery and is in recovery. You can see her in a half hour."

"How is she?" Sam questioned.

"She's in critical condition. The surgery went well, but we're not promising anything. You have my word though, that we're doing everything we can for her."

"Thank you," he whispered before sinking into a chair.

"I have a question about Alexandra Cameron," Josh swallowed back tears as he said her name.

Dr. Pfeffer looked at her clipboard. "Oh. She's been out of surgery for hours now and is recovering nicely. According to this, she's been awake for a while and is in stable condition. She'll be able to leave tomorrow or the day after."

Josh was confused. "You must be thinking of the wrong person. Alex Cameron is... well... she's dead."

"According to this, she's alive."

"Let me see that!" Josh snatched the clipboard from the doctor. He scanned the list for Alex. He read the same thing that the doctor had read to him. Josh was overjoyed. This couldn't be happening. He turned to Sam. "She's alive Sam! She's alive!"

"Go and find her!," Sam rejoiced, indifferently. "Sweep her up in your arms, tell her you love her, and ride off into the sunset."

"Okay!"

"Actually... you won't be doing any of that because she's hooked up to a lot of machines." Dr. Pfeffer smirked.

"Can I still go and find her and tell her I love her?"

"Sure."

"Good. Here I go." Josh ran down the hall and realized that he had no idea where he was going. He walked back to Sam and the doctor, who were both laughing, in shame. "Where is she?"

"Room fifty-eight. Down that hall." Dr. Pfeffer pointed him in the opposite direction.

"Thanks." Josh went off in search of Alex. He was still shocked. He had convinced himself that she was dead but she wasn't. Josh knew that he mustn't get his hopes up though because there could have always been a mix-up about something.

Josh found the door to room fifty-eight slightly ajar. He slowly opened it, afraid to see what was inside. His breath caught in his chest when he did see it. Lying on the bed in the middle of the room was Alex, HIS Alex. Her left arm was in a sling and she looked slightly paler than usual but other than that she looked fine. She was propped up in bed and reading a _People_ magazine. Emotions were running wild through Josh: happiness, joy, relief.

He took a tentative step into the room. Alex heard, looked up, and smiled. "Finally!," she called to him, playfully. "I have been waiting for hours!"

"You knew I was coming?"

"I knew you'd come for me. I had an instinct."

"I thought you were dead."

Alex looked down at her body, then back up to Josh. "Nope. Apparently not."

"But I heard him shoot you!"

Alex's demeanor suddenly got dark. "No. He shot Helga, who was fixing my arm at the time. Right through the head. I don't know why. He hit me across the face with his gun though." She pointed to a bruise on her left cheek that Josh noticed for the first time. He walked into the room, pulled up a chair next to her, and sat down. "And then he broke my cell phone. Snapped it in two! I really liked that cell phone too!"

"I'll buy you a new one."

"Oh, you're going to. I was planning on it."

Josh laughed. "How are you feeling?"

"My shoulder hurts a lot and I'm pretty light-headed. They said that I didn't really sustain any injuries except for my bruise, and my shoulder, which they said is gonna need physical therapy, and they said I lost a lot of blood. But other than that I'm okay."

"Did you hear about Olivia?" Alex nodded gloomily. Neither spoke for a minute. "They all think that you're dead back in the US. I think that President Bartlet was going to make the call to your parents."

"Really? Oh, that must be awful for everybody."

"You really think highly of yourself, don't you?"

"You mean you weren't absolutely tormented when you thought that I was dead?" Alex sounded more hopeful than playful.

Josh sighed. "I was. All I could think of was how crappy I had treated you because you deserved so much better than me. I found myself wishing that I could see you one more time, just to tell you how much I loved you. Because I really do Alex, I love you with all of my heart."

Alex was on the verge of tears. "I love you too Josh. I never stopped." Josh leaned forward and kissed her. She put her right hand on the back of his neck and kissed back.

In between their kisses, Josh said, "I will never, ever let you go again. I'm not going to lose you again."

"Don't worry. You won't."

* * *

Sam had been led into Olivia's hospital room. She was on the bed in the center, and what he saw made his heart sink. She was extremely pale, and she was hooked up to all sorts of monitors, IV's, and breathing tubes. There was a rhythmic beeping that Sam knew was her pulse. He sat beside her on the bed, took her hand, and waited. Waiting was the only thing that he could do. He waited for over two hours, not knowing what to do. During those two hours, Josh and Alex came to see Olivia as well. Alex gave Sam a hug, and she and Josh talked to Olivia a bit before a nurse shooed them out of the room.

It was so quiet. Sam wished that he could hear Olivia's melodic laugh. That would help to brighten the room. To get rid of the uneasy silence, Sam decided that he would do what he did best... talk. "Hey Olivia. It's me... Sam. I know that you can't hear me right now, but I'm just going to talk anyway. I think that that will make me feel better, and maybe, by some chance, you can hear me. So then maybe my talking will make you feel better. Besides... you've said yourself how good I am at talking to myself. Anyway, I thought that you might like to know that Alex is okay. We all thought that she was dead, but she's not. So I guess that that's always a good thing. Josh was going to tell her that he loved her. Which reminds me... I don't think I've said this in the past five minutes... I love you Olivia Jennifer Brooke. I love you with all of my heart. I love you like—"

"I love you too, Samuel Norman Seaborn," Sam thought that he heard a groggy voice that sounded much like Olivia's say.

"Now not only am I talking to myself, but now I'm hearing voices in my head."

"Sam!" Olivia laughed. Sam looked down to Olivia and saw that her eyes were open. Without thinking, Sam rushed forward and kissed her, kissed her like there was no tomorrow.

When he finally pulled away, Sam whispered, "I thought I'd lost you."

"You know what? The last thing that I thought about before I blacked out was you. And I thought that that was a nice dying thought. But I didn't die. I had this dream with you in it. We were married and had kids and a cat and a house with a white picket fence and—"

"I don't think that that will ever happen." Olivia's smile fell. "I'm allergic to cats." She started to laugh. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap." Olivia moaned. Sam could tell that every time she talked it was causing her pain.

"Well you just lie still and don't talk. I'll call a nurse and maybe they can get you high on morphine." Olivia giggled as Sam pressed the call button.

"Sam...," she whispered. "I love you."

Sam smiled. "I love you too."

* * *

Olivia spent two weeks at the hospital recovering. Alex was released after two days, but waited for Olivia to get better. Sam and Josh did all of their work via phone calls, faxes, and e-mails so that they could stay and wait for the other two to recuperate. The White House Staffers in the US were ecstatic to find that Alex was alive and that Olivia was going to be all right.

The day that Olivia was released from the hospital, Sam, Josh, Alex, and her flew back to Washington DC. Alex's arm was still in a sling, and Olivia, due to the fact that she was still weak, had to travel by wheelchair. The entire plane ride home, Alex talked Josh's ear off about how her experience had been like a Quentin Tarantino movie or a Wolfgang Peterssen movie. Olivia was petrified of flying after the incident, and Sam soothed her to sleep shortly after takeoff.

Neither Alex nor Olivia wanted to go home once their plane touched down in DC. They begged Josh and Sam to take them to the White House, stating that they had thought that they would never see their friends again, but now that they could, they wanted to see them as soon as possible. Josh and Sam were being much stricter than usual, saying that doctor's orders were that they get rest. Despite all of the tactics Olivia and Alex tried: the flirting, the teasing, the pouting, and the whining, Josh and Sam wouldn't bring them to the White House. Instead, they headed straight for Alex's apartment.

As they walked up to Alex's door (Sam was rolling Olivia), neither of the women would speak to Josh or Sam, except to fire insults. "You two are poop heads, you know that?" Olivia remarked.

"Why are you both so mad at us?! We're only doing what the doctor told us," Josh cried.

"You are mean and I hate you." Alex stated.

"No you don't"

"Oh, but I do."

Olivia turned to Sam who was smirking. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Something's up. What is it?"

"Nothing is up."

"Liar!"

Josh opened the door, laughing. They walked into the dark apartment. Sam flicked the lights on. "SURPRISE!!!" The apartment had been decorated with balloons and party decorations, including a banner that said, "Welcome home Alex and Olivia!" CJ, Toby, Leo, Donna, Charlie, Zoey, Ed, Larry, Olivia and Alex's assistants, Margaret, Bonnie, and Ginger all stood inside of the apartment, smiling. Alex and Olivia were shocked. They made rounds hugging everyone over and over again. People were crying, but out of happiness.

"Enough with the sappy stuff!," CJ yelled. She herself was holding back tears. "Let's break out the music and beer!" The stereo was immediately turned on and Toby pulled out a cooler full of beer.

As everyone began to party, Leo walked over to his niece and Alex. "Hey! Welcome back. Glad you guys are feeling better." He gave them both a hug. "The President wants you both to know that he wishes he could be here. But he can't. So he said that he can't wait until you guys come back to work. Alex... the President gave me this to give to you." Leo handed Alex a box the size of a small book. "Do you think I could speak to my niece alone for a minute?"

"Sure." Alex walked into her bedroom so that she could open her gift alone.

"How are you doing kiddo?" Leo looked concerned.

"I'm fine Uncle Leo."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"I am never letting you fly on a plane other than Air Force One ever again. I swear... you being up there almost gave me a heart attack."

Olivia giggled. "Well I'm fine now. I had some help getting better." Her glance drifted to Sam, who was watching CJ do "The Jackal". Leo followed her gaze.

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Does he love you?"

"Yeah."

"You're happy?"

"Yeah."

"Well then I give you every blessing in the world. Mind you, if he ever mistreats you, I'm going to have the President order Secret Service men to take care of him."

Olivia laughed. "I'll keep that in mind, but he won't ever mistreat me."

"Good." Leo smiled. "I love you kiddo."

"I love you too, Uncle Leo." They hugged.

* * *

Alex sat on her bed and stared at the box in her hand. She was afraid to open it. What the hell would the President be giving her? Finally, after taking a deep breath, she opened the box. She gasped once she saw the contents of the box. Inside, she found a picture of herself as a teen, the three Bartlet girls at a younger age, and a younger pre-President Bartlet in a beautiful silver frame. There was also a note from President Bartlet in the box that she picked up and read. Tears filled her eyes.

The door to the bedroom opened and shut. Alex looked up and saw Josh walk in. He looked concerned as he saw that she was crying. "What's wrong?," he asked as he sat next to her on the bed. Alex handed him the picture. He looked at it and smiled. "You guys were cute. Notice, I said _were_." Josh saw the note in her hand that she was crying over. "What's that?"

"President Bartlet wrote this note that came with the picture. It says that when he thought that I was dead he felt like he had lost his own daughter." Alex started to laugh, though she was still crying.

"Wow," was all Josh managed to say. He put a comforting arm around Alex.

She furiously wiped away her tears. "Sorry. I'm just really stupid and sentimental."

"Well, duh," Josh laughed. "But... you're also sweet and charming and witty and annoying as hell."

"And _you_ are funny and lovable and terribly egotistical. And I love you."

"I love you too." They kissed and then headed back to the party.

* * *

"Do you think that I could steal you away from the party for a minute?," Sam whispered to Olivia. Olivia nodded and Sam wheeled her out of the room into the hall. He headed straight for the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

A minute later they emerged on the roof of the building. It was a chilly, starry night with a half-moon in the sky. Sam wheeled Olivia over to the edge to stare out over DC. "It's a beautiful night," she said. She had started to shiver.

"Oh God. I forgot it was this cold." Sam took off his jacket and put it around Olivia.

"Thanks. But now _you'll_ be cold."

"No. I'll survive. I'm used to these harsh winters."

"You're from California." Sam shrugged and sat down on the ledge in front of Olivia.

"I wanted to let you know that you mean the world to me, Olivia. There's nothing I care about more than you. I have never been so happy or had so much purpose to my life as when I'm with you. I love you more than you'll ever know. And I was just wondering..." Sam pulled a large diamond ring out of his pocket. "if you'd marry me?"

Olivia gasped. "Of course I'll marry you!," she cried without hesitation.

Sam smiled. "Really?"

"Yes!" Olivia held out her hand and Sam slipped the ring onto it. "I love you Sam!"

"I love you too." Sam leaned forward and kissed Olivia. Both were so happy that nothing existed in the world at that moment except for the two of them.

* * *

The party was slowly dying down. Many people had left, and Leo had gone back to the office. The only people that remained in Alex's apartment were Alex, Josh, Olivia, Sam, Donna, CJ, and Toby. They were all drinking the leftover beer and had decided to clean the mess up tomorrow. Conversations bounced around to various topics. All in all the atmosphere was peaceful.

"You guys... we have an announcement to make," Sam called. Everyone stopped talking to listen. He and Olivia looked at each other. "We're engaged!"

"Congratulations!" Everyone shouted. The two lovers were bombarded in hugs.

When the hugging fest died down, Josh banged a spoon on his beer bottle. "We have an announcement too...," he looked to Alex. "We're not!"

"YAY!" They all laughed.

Alex held up her beer bottle and said, "To what life is all about: fun, good friends, and most importantly... beer." Everyone chuckled. "Just kidding. Of course the most important thing is love."

"Here, here!" They clanged their beer bottles together and drank as more than just friends, but one happy, loving family.


	10. Epilogue

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1

A/N: This is my view of what will happen... you might not agree with it and I'm sorry, but this is what I see as happening. Thanks once again to nattieb and kursk for the reviews. As an answer to your question kursk, I am thinking about writing a JoshDonna fic, I have a few ideas, but I want to wait until I'm almost done with "The Hardest Goodbye" to start writing it. So we'll see what happens. Hope you enjoy this. This story is now officially COMPLETE!

* * *

Epilogue

"We here at NBC news are ready to say that the next president of the United States will be Senator Samuel Norman Seaborn!"

The room erupted in applause and cheers. Victory music began to play. People began to dance. Champagne was being poured. It was a joyous occasion.

The first thing Senator Seaborn did after he saw the announcement was to kiss Olivia. The two of them had been married for twenty-two years now and they were still going strong. Sam thought that she looked absolutely beautiful, even with the incredible lack of sleep they all had. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too."

"Ew! Get a room, would you?!," came the squeal of Julie, their fourteen-year-old daughter.

Sam welcomed his daughter into his arms, and then dragged her along on the search for his other daughters. He found his eldest daughter, Sophia, who was twenty-one, arguing with Toby about something and drinking champagne. Sam walked up to her and took the glass out of her hand.

"You're too young to be drinking."

"I'm twenty-one Dad!"

"You're still five years old in my eyes. And I think that that's Mr. President to you now."

"There is no way on this earth that I will ever call you Mr. President."

"Can I settle with a hug?"

"Okay."

Both smiling, they hugged. Amelia, Olivia and Sam's nineteen-year-old daughter, ran over to her father and leaped into his arms. When they broke away, Sam looked proudly at his wife and daughters. He remembered all of the jokes that he and Olivia had gotten about how they had sex all of the time and couldn't stop having babies. It was then that he realized that an important member of his family was missing. "Where's Lauren?"

Olivia sighed. "I'm sure she's with Grace. Isn't that where she always is?" People began to walk up to the family to offer their congratulations. "I'll go look for her." Olivia went off in search of her fourth daughter. It didn't take that long to find her. She found Lauren sitting on a couch in the corner of the room with Grace Lyman. The two sixteen-year-olds were giggling up a storm about something. "All right, what's so funny?"

"Nothing," they both cried at once, but then dissolved into giggles.

"Twenty-one years of being a mother and you think I'm going to believe that excuse?"

"Yes."

"Lauren, your dad wants to see you." Lauren gave a loud, exasperated sigh. "Fine!" She got up and went in search of her father. Olivia turned to Grace. "Where's your family?"

Grace shrugged. "My dad is with Sam." She pointed over to where Josh and Sam were now celebrating together. "Noah is probably somewhere flirting with Zoey."

"He does realize that Zoey is married to Charlie, doesn't he?" The Lymans' eighteen-year-old son had always been somewhat taken with Zoey.

"I really don't know," she sighed. "My mom is over there." Grace pointed to where Alex was sipping champagne and intently watching election results on the TV.

"I'm going to go talk to her, okay?"

"Yeah. I think I'll go and try to pry Noah away from Zoey."

Olivia laughed and then walked over to her best friend. "Hey!" Alex smiled in response. "Can you believe this?! This is so exciting! We're gonna be working in the White House again!"

"You're going to be _living_ in the White House."

"Even cooler." Olivia paused. "Our husbands are going to be running this country!"

"Dear Lord, save us!" Alex said sarcastically. Both women laughed.

Josh swaggered over to them. "Hello ladies! My lovely wife..." Alex rolled her eyes as Josh gave her a kiss. "What are we talking about?"

"How screwed up this country is going to be with you running it," Alex smirked.

"Twenty years of marriage and you two still insult each other every chance you get." Olivia was baffled.

Josh put his arm around Alex and shrugged. "It's fun."

"Are you and Sam done celebrating amongst yourselves?," asked Alex.

"Of course not! We're just done for now. Once he talks to everybody, we're hitting the town."

"Oh dear God! You do understand that now not only do you have children to set an example for, but an entire country?"

"Don't worry. We don't start setting an example until inauguration." Sam walked over to join his three old friends. "There's the man of the hour!"

"More like the man of the decade!"

Sam smiled his thanks, and then gave his wife another kiss. "This is it," Olivia smiled. "These people will be running the country in two months." Sam, of course, was to be president. Olivia would obviously be first lady. Will Bailey was to be the vice-president. Josh was going to be chief of staff, and Alex was going to be Olivia's chief of staff. Josh had picked Charlie to be his deputy, and Toby, still unable to find a deputy he liked, would be Communications Director again. Sam had asked CJ if in addition to being a Senior Counsel, she would be ambassador to Qumar, to help that country with women's rights. Donna had returned to school, gotten her degree, and would be serving as Sam's Media Director. All of these people, even if their title didn't officially say it, would be Senior Counselors in Sam's eyes.

"Here we are," Sam sighed. "Three old fogies heading back to the place where we all met. Brings back some fond memories." Sam, Olivia, Josh, and Alex paused and reflected on their stories that had started in the White House and led to a lifetime of love and friendship before they rejoined the party.


End file.
